


Capes and Cowls

by KryptoKin



Category: Batman (Comics), Supergirl
Genre: F/M, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Thanksgiving, new romance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2488199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KryptoKin/pseuds/KryptoKin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While staying with her best friend over Thanksgiving break, Supergirl and Batgirl are forced into action when Scarecrow poses a threat to Gotham City. The Shadow, a hero who works with Batman, is unsure of this vivacious superheroine, but is forced to pair up with Supergirl to save Batgirl and Gotham City. (Co-written with JBAT13) Rating due to action violence and language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The Shadow in this story is an original remix by my co-author.  
> The story is done but I plan on waiting a few days or more to see how people react to each chapter; that way I can edit as need be.  
> Kind of, not beta-d
> 
> ENJOY!!! :)

Kara grumbles as she kicks through the Metropolis snow. The weatherman lied when he said Metropolis wouldn't get any until December. Not that she doesn't like snow, it’s just she hadn't expected it. Besides, the snow isn't why she is mad, it’s her cousin Clark Kent. When she told him she wanted to spend time with Oracle and Batgirl in Gotham City, he became extremely adamant.

The excuse he gave her was the city had grown too dangerous. She pointed out they are both invulnerable. So of course, his next excuse was Batman was out of town, and apart from Batgirl, some kid called The Shadow was the only other hero on duty. Clark told her he didn't know much about him and didn't feel comfortable having Kara work with him if the chance arose. Thankfully, Lois came to the rescue and told Clark to relax and let her go. 

“It’s good she’s spending time with people other than us," said Lois while ordering Kara’s plane tickets. Even though it would be easy for Kara to fly to Gotham on her own, Clark wanted her to travel once in a while on an actual plane.

While Lois typed on her laptop, Clark left to patrol. As soon as he left, she quietly closed the computer and helped Kara with her packing. “As much as I agree with my husband on things, I’m going to disagree with him this time. You can fly to Gotham on your own. Just make sure no one sees you.”

“I’ll travel at night.”

Once they finished packing, she told Lois she was going for a walk. Before leaving though, Kara called Stephanie to tell her she was definitely spending Thanksgiving with her and her mom. That was another a reason Clark didn't want her to go, it would be the first holiday she didn't spend with him.

As she kicks the snow, her foot hits something and a brick flies through the air and shatters against a wall. Kara flinches and looks around to make sure no one saw her accident. Every so often she passed a couple or an individual racing to get home and get warm; the streets and sidewalks are practically empty except for a few cars. Since the cold doesn't affect Kara, she has no reason to rush. She turns the corner and walks towards the Metro Diner. Just because the cold doesn't affect her, that doesn't mean she can't enjoy a cup of hot cocoa like everyone else.

**X**

The snow starts to fall in the November Gotham night. The streets seem quiet, too quiet for The Shadow as he swings through Gotham using his grapple. He looks for any signs of trouble but there are none. Batman said crime was at an all-time low. He thought they were waiting for a big December. Shadow does a quick loop around before heading home. He enters his room via his balcony and changes. He glances at the time, it is only 1 am. _Great_ ,he thinks, _a chance for some real sleep_. He looks at the comfort of his double bed before slowly climbing into it. He falls straight asleep, for once.

**X**

Kara arrives in Gotham City two days later with her suitcases. Clark caught wind of her plan to fly without a plane but didn’t put up a real fight; mostly because Lois was in Kara’s corner. Once everything got settled, she called Stephanie and showed up in Gotham 30 minutes later. Clark made her promise to take her time getting to Gotham and enjoy the flight; that much she could agree on.

“Kara!” Stephanie runs out of the house once she sees Kara and gives her a big hug. She’s not usually bubbly like this but sometimes Stephanie’s girly side shows. Kara fixes her glasses and pulls away from the smiling blonde. “Let’s go inside.” Stephanie composes herself and leads Kara by the arm. “My mom isn't home. She won’t be ‘til later.”

“Batman doesn't have you on patrol tonight?”

“No, he’s got the new guy doin’ it.”

“You mean The Shadow.” Stephanie looks back at Kara after she stops on the stairwell to fix a crooked picture hanging on the wall.

"Lemme guess, Superman told you.” Kara nods and Stephanie continues to lead her to the bedroom. “Figured as much. Supes never met him, but that doesn't stop him from having some level of distrust of the guy.” Stephanie plops on her bed and Kara drops her bag at the foot of the bed before doing the same. “Do you know why Superman doesn't like him?”

“Not really. Kal’s usually quick to trust. I think Batman’s gotten to him.”

“I guess.” Stephanie suddenly pops off the bed and goes to rummage through her drawers. “I’m gonna take a shower. Feel free to go down stairs and cook something up for us to eat.”

“You want _me_ to cook?”

Stephanie turns around and crosses her arms. “Would you rather _I_ do it?”

Kara makes a face. “Good point.” Stephanie narrows her eyes at Kara then throws a bra at her, who ducks out of the way then whacks Stephanie with a pillow before running out of the room.

**X**

Kara heats up a frozen garden pizza and sits at the table to read the funnies in today’s newspaper. She goes through them quickly then turns to the back for the puzzles. Everything is done except for the Sudoku puzzle. Kara figures Stephanie left it for her. She finishes the puzzle with plenty of time to take the pizza out of the oven.

As she’s pulling it out without using oven mitts, she can hear Stephanie come in the kitchen. “Every time you do that I have a mini-heart attack.” She leans over Kara’s right shoulder and sniffs the air. “Smells good.”

Kara smiles before pulling a pizza cutter out of a drawer. “So, got anything planned for us?”

“Not really,” says Stephanie as she sits at the kitchen table. “We can go ice-skating tomorrow and maybe see a movie before then. I’m kinda goin’ day-by-day.” Kara puts two slices, each on their own plates, and sets them on the table. “Ooh, I do have tickets for the Thanksgiving basketball game.”

“Basketball? Steph, I’m not really one-”

“I know, I know. You’re not really one for sports. But the point guard for GCC is _really_ good. I think you might even like the game. Ouch!” Stephanie sticks her burnt fingers in her mouth after touching the hot pizza. 

“Careful, it’s hot.” Stephanie throws a pen at Kara while the Kryptonian takes a bite of pizza; it misses her by an inch.

“Now you tell me.”

They finish the pizza quickly and head upstairs to get ready for bed. Kara is done first and asks Stephanie about the point guard while she’s getting ready. “What’s his name?”

“Whose name?”

“The point guard’s.”

“Oh it’s,” Kara hears Stephanie spit before she continues, “James Rola.”

“How do you know him?”

“We’re in a math class together. He me gave the tickets a week ago and told me to bring a friend.”

“That was nice of him.”

Stephanie walks in the room and closes the door behind her. “Yeah, well James is a nice guy. Cute too.”

“Do you fancy him?”

She plops down on the bed next to Kara and raises and eyebrow. “Fancy?”

“I’m trying out some new words.”

“Obviously, and no.” She rolls off the bed and pulls the sheets back. Kara follows suit. “Tim’s more my type but you might like him. He’s good looking, fit, smart, and everyone likes him.” 

“Let me guess, the downside is he’s arrogant.”

“Confident? Yes. Arrogant? No.”

“Sounds too good to be true.”

Stephanie turns out the light and settles into bed with Kara. “Hey, don’t knock him ‘til you try him.”

“Whatever,” Kara mumbles in her pillow. “Good night, Steph.”

“Night, Kara.” 

**X**

James Rola wakes up and checks his emails and texts. It’s 6:30 in the morning but he is wide awake. He never sleeps well so he’s gotten used to sleeping lightly. It also means he doesn’t need alarms. He sees a message from Batman. It says ‘Equus was spotted in Metropolis last night. Superman dealt with it. Oracle and Batgirl will be inactive for part of this week, Supergirl will be with them. Watch for activity from Black Mask and Penguin in the Industrial District’.

James reads about Supergirl and has a slight memory fade. He then remembers Stephanie talking about her friend Kara visiting. He had read the file Batman kept on Supergirl.  He had worked with Superman before and they seemed to understand each other fine, but Supergirl had some red flags in her file. He starts to download it from the Batcave server for future use.

He heads downstairs and sees Scarlett is up and made coffee. James walks through the kitchen and makes his own breakfast. He doesn't drink coffee, it would make him reliant on it to wake up and he doesn't want that. James and Scarlett casually talk while having breakfast. They are the only two in the house. Daniel is at his girlfriend’s and spending the winter over there. Laura is traveling with her work and Charlotte, their mother, is not home.  Much to no one’s surprise.

James and Scarlett always interact well with each other. He always spends a lot of time with his older sister. But recently they haven’t been able to spend quality time with each other like they used to. James is determined to change that.

Scarlett asks him, “Could you clear the snow away from the driveway? I’m going to need to get the groceries.” 

James nods and heads outside to do so. He heads out into the cold but ultimately sunny morning in heavy duty gear. He isn't that cold, but Scarlett wouldn’t let him go out it if he didn’t dress for the weather. The last thing he needs is his sister on his back. He grabs a shovel out of the garage and starts to clear the snow. The road is still relatively empty but the chimneys on his street are going at full capacity. He moves the snow out of the way and within 20 minutes clears the driveway of snow. He remembers he needs to go the Gotham City College’s library to meet Ben. They’re going over footage of the Metropolis College Giants so they have an idea what to expect for their Thanksgiving basketball game.

 Basketball is a getaway for him, from the pain and the seriousness of what he does. It gives him a break from reality. James heads back inside to do his stretches to help strengthen his body. He also re-reads the Supergirl file; Superman's little cousin with a lot of potential and a lot to learn. Batman noted that she is headstrong and careless at times. He thinks he better monitor her and make sure she doesn't do anything destructive.

**X**

The warmth from the sun shining through Stephanie’s bedroom window wakes Kara. She feels her body charge and enjoys the slow warmth that fills it, until the jarring whine of the alarm clock interrupts. She mumbles some unintelligible expletives as the alarm sounds. “Steph, turn it off.”

“Idonwanna,” is all she hears as Stephanie snuggles deeper into the sheets. Kara tries tolerating the incessant noise for another five seconds before reaching over Stephanie and crushing the clock. When she goes back to her side of the bed, Stephanie looks at the destroyed clock. “You owe me an alarm clock.”

“I’ll get you one for Christmas.”

“Make it an early Christmas. I need it for classes.”

Kara and Stephanie stay in bed for another half hour before unanimously deciding to get up for the day, mostly because the smell of pancakes makes its way up to them. Deciding food is a good incentive as any to get out of bed, they make their way downstairs to see Stephanie’s mother cooking.

“Good morning, Ms. Brown.”

“Good morning, Kara.” Ms. Brown has her back to Kara so she doesn't see Stephanie shove Kara then point at her face. Just before Ms. Brown turns around, Kara super speeds upstairs and grabs her glasses off the nightstand. “Did you girls sleep well?"

Stephanie goes up to her mom and kisses her on the cheek before grabbing a hot pancake off the plate. “Yep.” She doesn't expect them to be as hot as they are and inadvertently throws it at Kara, who catches it with ease. Ms. Brown doesn't see what happened or pretends like she doesn't and goes back to the stove. She takes a small pot and pours its liquid content into a glass pitcher. “Mom? Did you heat up the syrup?”

“Of course sweetie.”

“But you never do that. What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing special, except,” she kisses the top of her daughter’s head and sets the pitcher on the table, “I get to spend Thanksgiving with two of the prettiest blondes in the world.”

“Wow, Ms. Brown. Who’s the other blonde?” Stephanie kicks Kara underneath the table, but regrets it as soon as her toe makes a cracking sound when it hits the Kryptonian’s shin.

Ms. Brown rolls her eyes and grabs three plates from the cabinet. “What do you girls have planned for today?”

“Well, I've got to grab some things from the library before it closes,” says Stephanie while rubbing her foot. “Other than that, nothing much. Oh, Kara and I are gonna catch a matinee then go ice-skating. Wanna come?”

“I wish I could sweetie but I've got to work. But I’ll see if I can meet you for skating. Can’t promise anything though.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” Kara doesn't need her powers to know Stephanie is disappointed. She understands her mom has to work, but sometimes all a girl wants is to spend time with her mom.

**X**

James starts to plan his patrol route for the night. With Supergirl in town, he wants to operate within the area that surrounds Stephanie’s house. He checks his phone and sees it's time to go to the library. After saying goodbye to Scarlett, he gets into his car and sets off for the college. He notices while driving how quiet Gotham is, even at midmorning. He reaches the college and parks the car. The campus is empty, everyone is taking days off to study for upcoming exams. He gets out of the car and walks through the chilly air into the campus.

**X**

After breakfast, Stephanie drives Kara and her to the Gotham College's campus. “Stay here. I’ll only be a minute.” Kara watches Stephanie run up the steps of GCC’s Morris Library. “And don’t get into trouble while I’m gone.”

“Hey! That’s my line.” Stephanie sticks her tongue out at her blonde counterpart and runs inside but not before slipping on ice and almost landing on her butt. Kara suppresses her laughter as Stephanie composes herself then walks inside the old building.

Not wanting to hang out at the bottom of the stairs, Kara walks across the snow covered campus. It snowed during the night so most of Gotham is covered in a fresh blanket of white. She walks across the quad and watches as each footprint leaves its mark. In fact, she becomes so fascinated with it she starts walking backwards to see how her footprints change. Unfortunately, it means she doesn't see the large sheet of ice on the ground.

The back of her head hits the stone walkway with a loud crack. The obvious good news is she’s okay. The bad news is the pavement is not so lucky. She slowly gets up and turns to inspect the damage when someone calls out to her.

“Are you okay?” Kara looks up to see James Rola jogging towards her. He pulls Kara up with one hand and takes his first real life look at who Supergirl is. _I hope she doesn't fight like this_ , is the thought that crosses his mind as he looks down at the sidewalk then back at her. 

Kara tries to think of an excuse for the damage as he looks at the pavement then at her. “Guess the endless snow caused the sidewalk to crack. Looks like my fall didn't help either.” Kara adjusts her glasses and looks James in the eyes. “Hi, I’m Kara.”

James takes her hand in his and shakes it. “James.”

“Nice to meet you James.”

“Likewise, you sure you’re okay?” Kara nods. An awkward silence follows until James looks at the library and sees Stephanie bounding down its stairs and rushing towards them.

He already knows the connection between the two blondes but plays dumb. “A friend of yours, Steph?”

Stephanie giggles a little. “Yeah.” She grabs Kara by the elbow and drags her away but stops and turns back to him. “Um, could you drop your math notes off at my house later? Preferably before Thanksgiving if you’re not too busy.”

“Sure, I got to go. I’ll see you around.” He politely waves then climbs the steps before entering the library. He quickly heads to the basement. Ben told him there were rooms just for film analysis the English and Film Studies people use. It is free and ideal for what James and Ben need it for. He keeps thinking about Kara, the risks she poses being in Gotham, and without Superman around she could become a target.

He finds the room with Ben in it. “You’re late.”

James sits down in the empty chair left for him. “Had to help a girl up after she slipped on the ice.”

Ben smiles. “She cute?”

James almost cracks a smile but replies. “If that’s what you're into.” Ben knows this stands for ‘yes’.

“You get a name?”

James lies and says “No, didn't stop and chat.”

“Come on man, you got to get yourself a girl. There are plenty here that can’t resist you.”

“I can’t. It puts them in danger.”

“You don’t have to tell them about your hero side.”

“But then I would be lying to someone I care about, I hate doing that. And all those awkward answers about why I can’t spend the night with them will get too much.” Ben nods understandingly then turns the TV on and the first game tape starts to play. “So we've played these guys before, what do you think we need to exploit?"

“I only grabbed plays revolving around their point guard and a side pick-and-roll. All the other positions, we need to track their movements on where the point guard goes to. We pick up on that, we should be able to make defensive adjustments and make scoring difficult for them.”

James watches a few clips before asking, “Defensively?”

“Their switching off picks and rolls to play help defense, when the ball starts to move around it’s slow. If we make quick passes from screens, we should get open looks. Their point guard isn't exactly the fastest defender either.” James smiles a little at this. They watch over 100 tapes, making observations and suggestions on how to disrupt their opponent. It’s about 3 pm when they call it. “I think we are ready.”

James replies “I’ll see you tomorrow at the game.” They head for their cars and leave the snow ridden campus. When James gets home, the house is quiet. He heads up to his room and does a little bit of studying as he waits for the night to set in. As soon as it is dark and Scarlett lets him leave the table, he changes into his Shadow suit and heads out on patrol.

**X**

Kara and Stephanie’s night flew by. They saw a matinee showing of the new Warrior Angel movie then went to Siegel & Shuster’s Hollywood Diner for dinner. After spending two hours there, they took a walk to the outdoor ice-skating rink. Even though it was an excellent night, Kara could tell Stephanie was growing more upset by the hour when she realized her mom wasn't going to make it. When Stephanie’s sadness was starting to overpower her happiness, Kara decided it was time to go home.

On their walk to Stephanie’s house, Kara brought it up. “Your mom is doing her best, you know.”

“I know, but I’m getting tired of her sacrificing time with me just to pay the bills.”

“Sometimes sacrifice is needed.”

Stephanie stops walking and faces Kara. “Why do I have to be its victim?”

Kara shrugs and kicks at a clump of snow. “I don’t know.  I just know that your mom loves you and thinks she’s doing what’s best for you. You can’t blame her for that, can you?”

Stephanie sighs and shakes her head. “I guess not.” They keep walking until their two blocks or so from Stephanie’s house. Kara makes an abrupt stop and looks at the sky. “You okay?”

“No. The weirdest feeling just came over me. I think someone is watching us.”

“Do you know who?” Kara scans the area around them and sees three men in the shadows watching them. She takes Stephanie by the arm and continues walking. “Three men are watching us. Seven-o-clock.”

“Think they’ll attack?” Kara sees the twinkle in Stephanie’s eyes and knows she’s itching to take the men down if they try anything. 

“I’m not sure. Probably not though, it’s too bright out.”

Stephanie pats Kara hand. “Well don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll protect you.”

Kara tries to suppress a smile and shakes her head. “My hero.” Stephanie smiles and picks up her pace. The two travel another block before Kara is positive the men are not following them.

When they get to the house, Stephanie goes upstairs and grabs a towel from the linen closet outside her room. “All that skating made me sweaty. I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay.” Once Stephanie is in the shower, Kara changes into her Supergirl uniform and takes off. She needs to make sure those men aren't planning on trying something unsavory.

Shadow crouches on the roof of a store overlooking the streets. 

He is near Stephanie's house keeping an eye out for Supergirl. Oracle speaks to him saying Killer Moth is loose and if Shadow sees him to take him down. He ends the transmission and gets back to surveying the street. He watches couples walk in and out of diners and bars, happy. Some days he wishes he was down there. His dad said to him that he would have loved to see James' kids. He said that a week before he died. James would never forget that. Shadow thinks to himself, _Someday maybe_.

His train of thought is broken by a sudden gust of wind. He sees Supergirl land on a billboard and survey the area around her. Shadow narrows his eyes and gets prepared to tail her. As Supergirl takes off and soars through the Gotham night sky, she is unaware of Shadow’s presence. He tracks her and waits for her to land. He remembers she can be unpredictable and he would need to be careful. Supergirl is distracted by the vast size of the Gotham area that she doesn't hear Shadow move across rooftops and slowly getting closer to her.

Supergirl finally lands on another rooftop and scans the Gotham nightlife. Gotham looks stony and almost medieval in some ways, well compared to Metropolis anyway. A voice from behind her makes her jump. “Another quiet night in Gotham, I’m not sure if that’s good or not.” She turns around to see a man dressed in black, standing only a couple of feet behind her.

She thinks to herself, _how’d he get there?_ The man introduces himself. “Supergirl, I've heard a lot about you. I’m the Shadow.” Supergirl thinks, _of course he is._ Shadow continues. “What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Metropolis?”

He knows the real reason; but he wants to test her and see what her true intentions are. He folds his arms. _He looks menacing_ ,Supergirl thinks, _no wonder why criminals were scared of him._

Supergirl blurts out “Sightseeing?”

“You’re a bad liar.” Her shoulders slump like she’d been caught. “You are Kara Zor-El, Superman’s cousin. You’re in Gotham staying with Batgirl and her family for Thanksgiving.” Supergirl is shocked and feels vulnerable. This kid knows all about her yet she has no clue what this guy is about.

“How did you know?”

“It’s my job to know what is happening in Gotham, especially when superheroes strong enough to level this city come to town.”

Supergirl looks a little deflated, then smiles and asks, “Could you take me for a tour of Gotham then?”

“No.” 

Though she is turned off by his stern attitude, Supergirl decides to at least try to get to know The Shadow. He still hasn’t moved an inch since first talking to her until he suddenly goes into a tensed stance. She looks at him weirdly and is about to ask him what he is doing when he runs past her and jumps off the roof.

Supergirl, still slightly confused about what is going on yells out to him. “Wait for me!” She takes off and watches Shadow grapple swung once before tackling Killer Moth in mid-air. Supergirl is amazed at his skill and timing to get that right. Killer Moth is strong enough to recover and takes Shadow for a ride in the air. Not wanting to stay out of the action, Supergirl flies in front of Killer Moth before putting her hand up and yelling “Stop!” Killer Moth knocks her aside and continues to carry Shadow who is trying to slow him down.

Shadow yells, “Supergirl, go for his head, cover his eyes!” She follows orders and Killer Moth starts to lose control. He spirals towards the ground. She lets go of him so she won’t hit the ground but forgets Shadow is still aboard. She watches as he grapples off Killer Moth at the last moment before joining her on the ground. The winged villain hits the ground but recovers quickly to get back up. They are now in a courtyard with no lights, with only the moon and the street lights in the distance providing any lighting.

Shadow sarcastically says, “Thanks,” as Killer Moth gets ready to fight them.

Supergirl stops him by putting her hand up. “This won’t take long.” She charges at Killer Moth and Shadow tries to reach out to her to stop her. 

“Supergirl, wait! He’s got nerve gas grenades!” She hears this as Killer Moth strikes her with a grenade. To her surprise, her vision blurs and her body starts twitching, which causes her to slow down. She tries to recuperate but Killer Moth doesn't let her and punches her in the jaw. As she stumbles back, Shadow groans in disbelief.

He throws a couple of Shards of Darkness at Killer Moth. One hits Killer Moth’s hand, dropping the grenade while the other cuts the strap holding the bag up. Killer Moth looks at the bag and then looks back at where Shadow was. Shadow has moved out of sight and the next thing Killer Moth sees is Shadow’s fist crashing into the side of his head. Shadow follows up with elbows to the chest and well placed strikes to the stomach and head to make Killer Moth defenseless.

Supergirl watches how Shadow is able to keep making himself almost invisible by using darkness as cover. She watches how effortless and clinical his attacks are. As Shadow pummels him, Supergirl’s vision recovers fully and her body stops twitching. When Shadow kicks Killer Moth in the back, it sends the villain towards her. So, she finishes the fight by punching the dazed Killer Moth into a brick wall. The force of the punch causes the brick of a wall to crack where Killer Moth strikes it.

Shadow drags Killer Moth’s unconscious body from the street before grabbing handcuffs from his belt and cuffing him to a lamppost. Supergirl joins him as he climbs up onto another rooftop. “We make a good team,” she says with an upbeat tone.

Shadow replies sharply and a little darkly. “Just because you have powers and are indestructible, you can’t jump into situations. You need to think before you act.”

“I do. I just didn't feel the need to for this situation. I mean, c’mon, it’s Killer Moth. I can take him out in my sleep.” 

“It doesn't excuse your actions.” He crosses his arms and the frown on his face gets deeper. Supergirl lets out a puff of air in frustration. It brushes her hair out of her face and unfortunately, knocks Shadow’s head back a little violently in the process. Shadow is a little surprised but not impressed by the action but Kara finds it amusing. “This isn't funny.”

“Oh come on. I put a little too much force behind it. Sometimes I can’t control myself.”

“My point exactly.” Kara stops laughing and makes the face usually reserved for when Clark tells her off. But Shadow doesn't scold her, to her surprise. “Look, I don’t mind working with you, but you need to take it a little more seriously. I’ll see you around.” He disappears by jumping off the roof and swinging away.

Supergirl goes to call out to him. “Wait! Can’t I…” but stops as he vanishes into the Gotham night. Her shoulders slump in disappointment. She has so many questions about him. At least she knows one right person to ask about The Shadow; Stephanie.

**X**

Kara paces back and forth in front of Stephanie’s bed. Once she got home, she started ranting about The Shadow. “He just doesn't get me. He’s too serious. I like to have a little fun when I kick butt. Is that a crime? He’s just…he’s just so-”

“Much like Robin? Batman? And every other mask that’s remarked on your sometimes inability to think before you act?”

Kara stops pacing and stares and Stephanie. “You’re the same you know.”

“Yeah, but I've learned to think a little bit. You, on the other hand, have yet to fully grasp that notion.”

Kara frowns and crosses her arms. “College has ruined you.”

Stephanie laughs and kicks her slippers off as she stretches across her bed. “Say what you like, but you know I’m right. You acted too quickly Kara. Just because it’s Killer Moth, it doesn't mean you can blow off basic fighting tactics.”

Kara sighs and spins around before falling across the bed by Stephanie’s feet. “Yeah, I know. Still,” she looks over at Stephanie, “he could have been a bit warmer to me.”

“Batman was never warm to you.”

“Because he’s Batman. This Shadow looks around our age. He should be friendlier, like Tim.”

Stephanie lifts her head off the bed and looks down at Kara. “So, what do you want me to do?”

Kara looks over at her and shrugs. “You work with the guy. Talk to him. See if you can get him to loosen up a bit.”

“I doubt it’ll work, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, I have another thing to ask,” Stephanie sits up and crosses her legs, “since when does nerve gas affect you?”

Kara sits up and frowns. “It doesn't, or it’s not supposed to anyway.”

“Then how did Killer Moth, a villain who’s usually not that dangerous, get his hands on nerve gas that can affect you?”

“I don’t know, but it looks like Thanksgiving Break isn't going to be much of a break.”

Stephanie grabs a pillow, “You’re tellin’ me,” and hits Kara over the head with it. Kara pretends like she didn't see it coming and blinks a few times, before grabbing another pillow and smacking Stephanie in the shoulder. Unfortunately, she does it too hard and Stephanie flies off the bed.

Kara jumps off the bed and sees if her friend is okay. “Steph, are you okay?” She gets a pillow to the face as Stephanie stands up.

“You play too hard. I’m telling mom!” Kara gets hit in the head again before a laughing Stephanie runs out of the room. _Now, **that’s** the Steph I know._

**X**

James reads the newspaper the next morning. A picture of Killer Moth flying through the air with Shadow and Supergirl nearby filled a third of the page; the headline read: ‘ _Shadow and Supergirl, A Budding Partnership?’_ He wasn't all that impressed by it. They stopped Killer Moth but in no way was it clean. Scarlett entered the kitchen and says, “That newspaper is a little crazy. Was it like that?”

“No, she has potential and ability, but she doesn't think. She is almost like Laura.”

Scarlett rubs his shoulders. “I’m sure you can sort her out.” James grunts as a maybe. He doesn't like the fact that as soon as she turned up, trouble followed.

James goes back to his room and mentally reviews the night. Supergirl seems fun and she knows how to take down a bad guy so a partnership could possibly be on the table. But he doesn't like the immaturity and the unpredictable nature of her. He can't trust her, not yet anyway. Her running into situations without assessing it is also a huge kink.

He assesses her behavior towards him in his head. The list in his head goes like this: slightly flirtatious, inquiring, wanting to know more, and slightly carefree. He also saw: confidence, even complacent at times but with a hint of nerves. James’s knowledge in human behavior psychology helped him pick out that she was nervous as she wanted to impress him, get his attention. She liked him was the summary of all this, the signs were there. He is still a little unsure about her though. He decides to not press it and just keep her at an arm’s length, until she has proven to be responsible and a better thinker. 

James goes to his wardrobe to check his suit’s belt. He opens the lead lined pocket and the small block of Kryptonite is still there. It isn't a big piece, but it would render her powerless. He closes the pocket and then the wardrobe. “Only in an emergency,” he mutters under his breath.

James says goodbye to Scarlett then drives to the spot where Killer Moth landed and they arrested him. He couldn’t see the extent of the crater at night, but in the daylight the damage is major. The whole wall had cracked. The imprint is so deep, it almost broke through to the other side of the wall. She hadn't even hit him that hard. _She needs to learn to measure her powers before someone gets killed._ James notes to himself that Supergirl will need to be under close surveillance as he drives home to prepare for the big game tonight.

**X**

The Gotham City College Basketball Gym is filling up fast, as the game is only 30 minutes away. James Rola and Ben Williams have a banner of themselves above the entrance saying ‘The Dynamic Duo’. When they play together, they are amazing. Both seem to know exactly where each other are and what they would do next. This game is the top of the table clash. The Gotham City College Gladiators are taking on the Metropolis City College Giants.

Stephanie and Kara find their courtside seats with 20 minutes before tipoff. James is warming up with his team. He is casual and relaxed but professional as he goes through a routine of layups, jumpers, and stretches. Kara looks at the rest of the players who seem to be head and shoulders taller than James and says, “Isn't he a little small to play basketball?”

Stephanie giggles and replies. “You’re not the first person to say that.”

Kara looks at her funny and asks "What’s so funny?"

Stephanie smiles as she replies. “You’ll find out.”

James and his team huddle together and he gives them the captain speech. They take the court with the home crowd cheering eagerly. James collects the tip from Ben and the offense sets up. James looks, sees Ben posting up. He throws a pass a little over Ben and Ben seals off his defender, catches the ball and dunks it. The full crowd goes crazy as James and Ben do a little handshake on their way back to play defense. Stephanie and Kara watch in amazement as James plays a perfect first half. He scores 18 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. He shot three 3-pointers and hit 1/1 free throws. He didn’t miss a shot the whole first half and had no turnovers. As a result, Gotham is threatening to blow the game out, as they have a 13 point lead. 

As the cheerleaders go on the court for their halftime performance, Stephanie asks Kara what she thinks of the game so far. “It’s fine. I guess,” she answers.

“It’s fine? James and Ben just dominated the court. I’d say because of that it was _more_ than fine.”

Kara’s brow furrows and she tilts her head to the right. “You talk quite highly about this James. Are you sure he’s not your type?”

“Nah. Tim’s more my type.” Kara watches James disappear with his buddies in the locker room then turns back to Stephanie.

“They kind of look alike.”

“I never said it had anything to do with their looks.” Stephanie stands up and motions for Kara to follow her. “C’mon, let’s go get some refreshments.”

“Refreshments? Who says that?”

Stephanie narrows her eyes and not-so-gently pushes Kara in the direction of the stairs that lead to the concessions stands. “Everyone, now move.”

The 3rd quarter begins with James and Ben sitting on the bench. They had played every second of the first half. All of a sudden, Metropolis puts on a 20-0 run; now leading by fourteen. Even when Ben and James come back in and Ben scores, Metropolis goes into the 4th quarter with a 10 point lead. The Gotham crowd is stunned. The Gotham offense had collapsed, the shooters couldn't hit.

Kara looks around a little worried but Stephanie is calm. “Chillax Kara, Rola will take over.”

The 4th quarter starts with James setting Ben up for a trail man 3. The ball swishes the net as it goes in the hoop and Gotham trails by 7. Ben then gets a defensive rebound and James winds the shot clock down doing crossovers and in-out between the legs moves. He pulls up and hits a 3 over the defender to cut the lead to 4.  The crowd started to become vocal again, sensing another Rola and Williams’ takeover. The lead stays the same until there are three minutes left. James steals the ball and on the fast break, alley oops to the high flying Ben to send the crowd into a frenzy. Gotham is now down by 2. The crowd is then silenced by Metropolis 3 with 2:20 to go. Gotham looks like they have been clawing their way back into the game but they need a boost. James provides it.

A play is isolated for him to go straight at the Metropolis point guard, who is a good defender but James can beat him. James crosses him over and the Metropolis point guard falls over. He drives at the rim with the Metropolis power forward and center coming to play help defense. James goes all the way to the rim and throws down a powerful one-handed slam dunk. The crowd is now at a deafening level. It gets even louder when Metropolis turns it over and Ben finds James at the 3 point line. James catches the ball on the run and slams in a windmill dunk on the Metropolis Point Guard.

Kara smiles and nudges Stephanie in the arm. “If he jumped any higher, I’d think he was Kryptonian.”

Now the score is 89-90 to Metropolis with 1:30 remaining. A timeout is taken. After the timeout, both teams miss shots until Metropolis gets a foul. The center only makes one free throw and the Gladiators take their final timeout with 12 seconds to go. James sees the coach call a play for James to get a shot. James gets the ball and waits for the screen. He fakes to drive and pulls up for a 3. The defender hits him late as the ball sails through the air. The arena is silent, all waiting to see if the shot would go. It swishes in and the crowd goes crazy. The Gotham players also go nuts except James, who is very calm and does a little fist pump before receiving high fives from his teammates. 

James hits it with 4 seconds to go and a free throw to go. He makes it and now Gotham leads 93-91 with 4 seconds left. Metropolis can’t get a free shot and Ben blocks a desperate 3 point attempt to secure the win. James finishes with 36 points, 17 assists, 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks. He only missed 3 shots.

Kara shoves the last of the popcorn in her mouth and tosses the container in the trash, as she and Stephanie leave the stadium. “So, what you think?” asks Stephanie. Kara holds up a hand as she’s chewing and grabs the jumbo-size coke out of Stephanie’s hands. She finishes it off and drops it in the trash before answering.

“It was good.”

“So you liked it?” Kara sticks her hands in her pockets and shrugs nonchalantly but can’t hide the smile creeping up. “Admit it, you liked it.”

“Okay, yes it was good and I wouldn't mind seeing another one.”

“Yay.” Stephanie grabs Kara by the arm and leads her away from the stadium. They talk about the game; what they liked and didn't like, who the impressive players were, and what stuck out to them. They are sitting on a stone bench 100 yards or so from the stadium when they see James Rola come out the front exit. Immediately, he is hounded by Vicki Vale and other members of the media. “Considering I've been patiently waiting to bring him up, what did you think of him?”

Kara watches as James answers a few questions then kindly brushes off the rest of the reporters. They follow him a good distance until another member of his team leaves the stadium. She watches as he breathes a sigh of relief then gets in his car.

“He looks exhausted,” comments Kara.

“Well, you would be too if you did all he does.”

Kara frowns. “What else does he do besides school and sports?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” Stephanie says with a smile as she sits on a bench.

Kara crosses her arms and furrows her brow. “What does that mean?”

Stephanie simply smiles and leans back, only to spaz out when she realizes there’s no back. She mumbles angrily under her breath as she gets up and brushes the snow off her butt. “Shut up,” she says while pointing a finger at a snickering Kara, “and just go ask him yourself.”

Kara’s smile disappears and she shakes her head. “Maybe another time.”

“When else are you going to see him?”

Kara watches James pulls out of his parking spot and drives away. “You never know,” then turns back to Stephanie, “we could be destined to meet again.”

Stephanie stands up and rolls her eyes before shoving Kara in the direction of the car. “Whatever you say.”

As the they walk through the snow, Kara rubs the arm Stephanie had pushed on. “You've been awfully violent today. Are you okay? Do you need me to call Tim?”

“Don’t you dare!” Kara laughs as Stephanie leans down and makes a snowball. “You can run but you can’t hide Kent. I know where you’re staying.”

James leaves quickly after the post-game formalities. All the media wanted interviews which he expected, he is captain and the top college player and MVP the last two years. He handles the media well and gets himself home without much fuss. He then remembers he needs to drop some notes off to Stephanie for Mathematics. He is passing that class with A's, not far off A+ mostly because he’s doing other work instead. He gets home and showers before grabbing a quick bite and leaving with his notes to go to Stephanie's house.


	2. Chapter 2

James reaches Stephanie’s house just before 11 pm. He’s a little tired; the game drained a lot of his energy. His training has given him more endurance that he can last longer in physically draining activities and still perform at his best. But all he really wants is to go to bed and maybe get a good night’s rest. 

He gets out of his car with his notes and walks up to Stephanie’s dimly lit house. He quickly tidies up his appearance before knocking; his hair was a little messy.  After he knocks on the door, he hears the running of feet getting louder as whoever approaches. The door opens and Kara stands in the doorway. James’ eyes flicker in surprise as he was expecting Stephanie but composes quickly.

Kara tilts her head and a smirk graces her lips. “Well look who we have here.”

James gives her an odd look before replying. “Here are Steph’s notes. Where is she?”

Kara explains with excitement as she takes the notes. “She’s getting snacks for our all night movie-marathon!”

James slightly smiles. “Sounds fun.” 

Kara leans towards him a little. “You can join us if you’d like. We’re watching chick flicks, action, horror, romance, drama...” She stops as she notices James’ expression looks slightly worn.

“I can’t sorry. I got to get some rest after that game. What did you think of it?”

“You did…good.”

James scratches his head. “Yeah well I got to go, big morning tomorrow with the family, so I’ll leave you girls to it.” He smiles again at her before turning around and walking back to his car to head home.

Kara wants to say something but she doesn't. She wanted him to stay but could see in his face he’s tired. _He is probably telling the truth about his plans_ , she thinks as she closes the front door. If she wants to know more about James, she needs to go to another source of information. Stephanie could be that source. She wants some background information on him; his family, his likes and dislikes, previous relationships, current availability, interests and so on.

Kara goes upstairs and sets Stephanie’s notes on her desk, then with a sigh she plops on the bed and stares at the ceiling. “I can move mountains, detain natural disasters, destroy uber powerful otherworldly threats, and stare Lex Luthor in the eyes. Yet, I can’t even talk to a boy.” She grabs a pillow and sets it over her face. “This is stupid.”

A door slamming downstairs takes Kara out of her pity party. “Yo, bubble-butt! Get your tush down here!”

Kara throws the pillow back in its spot and speeds downstairs to the kitchen. “How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?”

Stephanie sets the groceries on the kitchen table with a smile. “A lot. Now come help me with our snacks.” Kara starts to unload the plastic bags when Stephanie leaves the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

“To get into something more comfortable.”

“You’re not going to help me put the groceries away?”

“Nah.” Kara chucks a bag of marshmallows at Stephanie’s head; she ducks then races up the stairs with a giggle. Kara puts the real groceries away, like eggs and milk, and collects the junk food in one pile on the kitchen counter. She remembers the bag she threw at Stephanie and jogs over to pick it up from its spot at the foot of the stairs. When Kara stands up, Stephanie is downstairs with her notes in her hands. “Who dropped these off?”

“Um…James?” said Kara with a wide grin.

Stephanie crosses her arms. “Kara, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.”

**X**

James gets home and sees Ben texted him about this party downtown with a ton of hot girls and great music. James is not the party type; training and not seeing the point saw to this.  James declines but also texts back ‘saw that girl again’.

Ben: Get her man.

James: She’s staying with friends. I’m not so sure.

Ben: So? Why?

James: This girl is a little unpredictable.

Ben: Aren’t they all? Haha.

James: Sort of. This girl is Supergirl.

Ben: THE SUPERGIRL!? I’ve seen pictures in the paper of her. She is smoking hot man!

James: I know, I’ve had a run in with her already. A little unsure man, she is headstrong and impulsive.

Ben: Get to know her, and then maybe she will be more thoughtful.

James: I’ll look into it.

Ben: Go get her.

James smiles as he reads the last text but doesn’t bother replying. Instead he gets into bed and falls asleep quite quickly.

Meanwhile, back at Stephanie’s house, Kara is explaining the brief encounter she had with James. Once she’s done, Stephanie stares at her briefly before bursting into laughter. “It’s not funny, Steph.”

“Yes… it is” Stephanie laughs again. Kara watches her with crossed arms until her blonde counterpart eventually composes herself. “Okay, okay. I’m good.” A snort sneaks out but Stephanie remains calm nonetheless.

“I’m glad to see you find this so amusing.”

“Oh, c’mon, Kara. You know I’m not laughing at you... I’m laughing next to you.” Kara steps towards Stephanie and grabs a pillow off the bed to slap her upside the head. “Hey, what was that for?”

“For laughing at me.” Kara sits down next to Stephanie and wraps her arms around the pillow. “I think I like him, Steph. I’ve never felt like this before.”

Stephanie wraps her arm around Kara and pulls her into her side. “Welcome to the club.”

After a brief pause, Kara says, “Your club sucks.” Stephanie laughs and kisses the top of her head.

“Yeah, I know.”

**X**

When Stephanie’s cellphone alarm goes off, Kara tries to sink deeper into the bed. She feels Stephanie roll out of bed and struggle to turn the thing off. A few choice words about the phone fly out of her mouth after she finally shuts the thing off.

“Kara, get up.” Kara pretends to be asleep. It’s not that hard with her pillow being over her face. “C’mon, Kara, get up. We’ve got to help my mom with the rest of the food.”

When Ms. Brown got home late at night, she found her daughter and Kara working on the food for Thanksgiving. They gave up on their movie night since Kara stopped being in the mood to watch romantic comedies. They did watch a number of horror and action flicks before Stephanie suggested they help out her mom with cooking. They were in the middle of working on a pretzel salad when Ms. Brown walked in. She was so overwhelmed with happiness and love that she simply pulled the two blondes into a big hug.

It’s not that Kara doesn’t want to help Ms. Brown or Stephanie, and she is wide awake, it’s just she feels like being ornery right now. Kara tries to look relaxed and not smile as Stephanie picks the pillow off her head.

“Kara... c’mon, Kara. Wake up.”

Kara remains calm, to her own surprise, and listens as Stephanie walks away. She hears the water in the bathroom run and figures Stephanie is washing her face, but the water runs longer than expected and Stephanie quickly comes back in the room. Stephanie stops by the edge of the bed and Kara suddenly feels something cold drop on her cheek. _She wouldn’t_ , thinks Kara before another drop hits her face. _She would!_

Kara rolls off the bed using her super speed as Stephanie pours the cold glass of water onto the bed. “Hey! No superpowers.”

Stephanie runs around the bed and tackles Kara as she tries to untangle her legs from the sheet. She uses her training with Batman to take Kara down a few times, before Ms. Brown tells them to stop breaking things and get downstairs. The two blondes roll their eyes then race to be the first one to the kitchen. Kara would have won if Stephanie hadn’t jumped over the railing. “That’s not fair. No Batgirl powers,” whispers Kara as they enter the kitchen. “Good morning, Ms. Brown. How can we help?”

“You can help by working on the chocolate mousse pie,” relies Mrs. Brown as she points to a pile of ingredients.

“But _I_ wanted to make the mousse pie,” complains Stephanie.

Ms. Brown points to another pile of ingredients. “You can work on the apple pie.” Stephanie pouts but listens to her mother. Kara has a wide grin on her face and bounces on the balls of her feet as she organizes her ingredients.

“Face it Steph. I’m just better at whipping up a pie than you.”

A sly grin slides on Stephanie’s face as she replies to the comment. “So you’re good at whipping, huh?”

“Yes, I-” Kara’s smile drops. “Shut. Up.”

Stephanie laughs. “And Tim says _I’m_ a bad influence on _you_.”

“Eh-hem.” The girls’ eyes widen before they turn to look at Ms. Brown who has her hands on her hips.

“Are you done? Or do I need to separate you two?”

“N-no Ms. Brown,” replies Kara with a shake of her head.

Ms. Brown narrows her eyes at the two girls but a hint of a smile is on her lips. “Good, because we have a lot of cooking to do.”

**X**

James, Scarlett, and Daniel join each other for Thanksgiving. James doesn’t really see the point in celebrating; he has other things on his mind.  His family wasn’t big on Thanksgiving.  It had not been the same since the loss of his father. His mother is ‘busy’ and Laura can’t get back from the Middle East in time.

Daniel and James cooked the turkey while Scarlett made other various dishes. The Rola children had always worked well together, another trait influenced by their father. After they eat, Daniel leaves to go back to Amy’s house, leaving James and Scarlett to watch movies for the afternoon until James starts to think about the night patrol.

Scarlett asks James, “You patrolling tonight?”

James replies with a nod.  “With Batman busy, I have to be on top alert, this city has many a problem.” Scarlett nods and sighs a little. “What?” 

“When will this crusade finish?”

“When the five men responsible for Dad and Jessica’s death are held accountable.”

Scarlett rubs her hands through her hair before using them to support her head with her elbows on her knees “How’s that coming along? It's been three years.”

“Three are either dead or in prison for unrelated offences but the other two I’m still tracking.”

Scarlett sighs again.  “I don’t like you doing this, but I know you make a difference.” She puts an arm around him and pulls him into a cuddle. James doesn’t object and they lie on the couch watching films. He knew that Daniel and Scarlett hated what he did, in case he joined his father.

**X**

After dinner, Ms. Brown gets ready to leave to do a Thanksgiving shift at the hospital. “I’ll be back in the morning. Should I expect you home?”

“Kara and I are gonna go for a walk and maybe head towards the parks in the morning. The traffic shouldn’t be that bad in that area.”

“Okay.” Ms. Brown kisses the tops of Stephanie’s and Kara’s heads before leaving. After watching _A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving_ , Kara and Stephanie head up stairs to get ready for patrol.

“Anyone joining us tonight?” asks Supergirl once her cape, the final piece of her uniform, is in place.

Batgirl shakes her head “No. Batman is with Superman and the Justice League, and Robin is helping Nightwing with a problem in Bludhaven. Shadow will be out later. He’s kind of a loner though, so I doubt he’ll be with us tonight.”

Batgirl sits down to put her boots on and Supergirl sits next to her. “You should get him to come with us.”

“No, he needs a rest. Saving your butt takes a lot of energy you know.”

Supergirl rolls her eyes. “I just want to get to know him.”

Batgirl stops what she’s doing and looks at Supergirl. “You kind of like him, don’t you?”

Kara shrugs. “There’s something about him...”

Batgirl laughs a little and replies. “Look, I am not taking you to his house just so you can stumble your way through a conversation.”

Supergirl gives Batgirl a look. “What? Look, I can talk just fine around him and say that again? You know where he lives?”

Batgirl’s smile disappears. “No.”

Supergirl grabs Batgirl by the shoulders. “You _have_ to take me to see him.”

“I will not.”

“Yes you will.”

“Or what?”

Supergirl thinks about it for a moment. “If you don’t, I’ll tell Tim about that time at Met U when you-”

“NO! You wouldn’t dare. How can you blackmail your best friend?”

Supergirl raises her eyebrow and crosses her arms. “I learn from the best.”

Batgirl throws her hands up in defeat. “Fine! I’ll take you to him.”

Supergirl smiles. “This could have been a lot easier if you didn’t resist.”

Batgirl glares at her and replies. “It’s a secret for a reason, you know?” When she sees she’s not getting out of this, she sighs. “Fine, let’s go.” They leave into the Gotham night. On the way, Batgirl says “Are you sure you want to know who he is?”

Supergirl nods. “Yeah, I know I’ll like him.” Batgirl snorts. “What?”

“You never know, once I found out Robin was Tim, I held the fact he never told me against him.”

“Yeah, but you knew Robin for almost a year. I’ve met this guy what, a few days ago?

“Doesn’t mean it’s any different.” Supergirl is still not happy with Batgirl’s reluctance for her to find out who The Shadow’s identity. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just patrol before we get to his house.”

Other than a mugging, four attempted burglaries, and an accident, the city is relatively quiet. Their on their way to what Supergirl is hoping is Shadow’s house, when Supergirl gets the feeling someone is watching them again. She scans the area but doesn’t see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. When the feeling doesn’t go away, she lands on the top of an apartment complex.

“Supergirl, what is it?”

“I’m not sure.”

Vines suddenly come out of the dark and snatch both the girls off their feet. They struggle but are pulled down to a small garden where Poison Ivy waits. “Night girls,” she says as she blows a kiss to them. A yellow dust hits them in the face. Batgirl falls asleep immediately. Supergirl struggles against the effects, but eventually succumbs to the dust as well.

**X**

Batgirl wakes to the sound of a drill. She sees Harley Quinn, with giant overalls covering her harlequin costume, drilling a cage with a piece of blue Kryptonite to the floor. Seven feet from the golf ball size rock is Supergirl who is chained to a wall. Batgirl goes to help her, in doing so she gets yanked back; she’s also chained to the wall. Supergirl appears to be asleep as Poison Ivy comes into the empty room with Scarecrow. Ivy yells at Harley to stop what she’s doing.

With the room finally quiet, Batgirl speaks. “Quinn, when did you get out?” Last time Batgirl heard, Harley was locked up with the Joker in Arkham Asylum.

Harley replies. “I was never there”.

“Clayface,” Batgirl mumbles under her breath as Harley laughs and strips out of the overalls.

“Batgirl,” says Scarecrow, “you and your friend have been selected to take part in an experiment of my latest fear strain. This one is sure to leave you looking inside yourself and searching for clues of sanity.”

Batgirl growls. “When Batman gets here-”

“Batman and the League are busy dear,” interrupts Ivy. “You have no one to call upon.”

Supergirl sleepily groans out. “Isn’t that Shadow kid meant to be patrolling?” She realizes her mistake as Batgirl sighs in defeat.

Harley makes a sound between a squeal and a hiccup. “I knew I was missing one. Oh well, he won’t find you in time.”

Scarecrow ignores the outcry of the petite clown. “Poison Ivy and I left a few problems for the League to deal with. They won’t be done for a week. It’s more than plenty of time to break you two.”

The three villains turn to walk away. Poison Ivy turns her head and says, “Oh, I wouldn’t try to contact anyone either. We have military tech to counteract it and we have a missile aimed right at your watchtower. If you try to contact someone, it launches.” She turns around and leaves the room.

_Since when can Ivy afford military-grade hardware,_ thinks Batgirl. She and Supergirl look at each other with worried expressions.

**X**

James suits up into his Shadow suit for the night.  Scarlett went to bed early as her last couple of weeks had been long and tough. Just as he puts his masks on, Oracle contacts him. “Batgirl and Supergirl should have checked in by now.”

“Probably busy.”

“No, this is weird, Shadow. Batgirl’s vitals dropped to sleep 20 minutes ago. They’ve only just come back to resting pace. I can’t contact her, something is blocking the signal.”

Shadow starts to look at this matter a little more seriously. “Ok, can you get a lock on her position or last known location?”

Oracle replies. “Not on her current, but her last known position was near Robinson Park. Shadow, I think she’s in trouble.”

“I’ll check it out. In the meantime, you find out if there are any loose super criminals I need to keep an eye out for.”

Shadow leaves his house and takes to the rooftops, grappling his way around the city. He reaches Robinson Park and sees several green plants littering the park; weird for that time of year. Shadow observes closely and sees movement. He contacts Oracle.

“Oracle, I have reason to believe Poison Ivy has them.” As soon as he says this, his peripheral vision sees something approaching him fast. He evades a bunch of vines to see a vine trap in the middle of the park.

_I got to stop it. It will endanger the people in the park. I’ve seen it before. I’ll need to find some plant killer._ Shadow finds he still has some from a past mission and pulls it out of his belt. _Here goes nothing._ He acrobatically jumps and dodges the vines coming at him as he runs closer to the plant. He knows all he has to do is throw the plant killer in the traps mouth, which looks like a green clam with fangs that is in the ground, and the plant killer will do the rest.

He gets close but as he is about to throw it in, a vine blindsides him, swatting him away. Shadow gets up quickly to evade more vines. _I’m going to have to throw it._ Shadow gets a clear shot. He throws it just as a vine closes in on him. He releases the plant killerjust before the vine swats him again. The plant killer falls into the trap’s mouth and it immediately has an effect. The trap shrinks and withers into the ground.

Shadow reports to Oracle as bystanders watch in amazement. “Oracle, I just took down a vine trap. Poison Ivy has something to do with their disappearance.”

“I figured. That list of names you were after, I got them. It includes Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, and Deadshot.” As Oracle speaks, Shadow notices a reflection off a rooftop, a glint of steel. He looks a little more when he sees the red laser dot on his chest. He moves quickly for cover as a sniper shot was fired.

“I found Deadshot, who else is there?”

“Scarecrow, Two Face, Firefly, and Harley Quinn. Harley was supposed to be in Arkham, but she changed into Clayface less than an hour ago. Probably with Ivy.”

“I’ll take them down. See if you can locate Firefly, Mad Hatter, and Two Face for me.”

Shadow hears the brick chip off the large garden box he’s hiding behind. He switches his suit to anti-thermal making him invisible to Deadshot’s thermal vision. Then he uses a new tool Batman gave him, an electric pulse. It will disrupt the circuits in a 200 meter radius.

Shadow puts all the lights out and runs to the street. Deadshot now has no idea where he is, even when the lights do come back on. Shadow grapples up the building to a stairwell before planning his next move. He uses the detective mode scanner to locate Deadshot. He is on the corner of the rooftop. Shadow positions the grapple to that ledge and fires. Shadow grapples up and tackles Deadshot as he rises above the rooftop. Deadshot is quickly subdued and cuffed.

Shadow roughly says, “Who hired you?”

Deadshot smiles that ‘I’m not saying anything’ smirk. Shadow realizes Deadshot is not going to talk so he knocks him out. He takes him down to the ground where police officers have arrived at the scene and leaves him there for the police.

Shadow continues on his way to Batgirl’s last known location. He stops and looks around. _Nothing unusual about the place they were taken from_. Shadow contacts Oracle again. “Oracle, is her commlinks still active?”

There’s a silent pause on the other end of the line. “No, but the signal from it is. I can’t pinpoint a location but I can triangulate it to a 500 meter radius.”

Shadow receives the coordinates and heads towards them. The location is near the slum area of Gotham. Shadow locates four buildings that are in this radius. Two of them he immediately strikes off the list since they are gas stations. One is a rundown old bar and the other is a nightclub, more of a front for illegal activity. It is closed so Shadow decides to check out the old bar. It would have a basement, a big one too if it served draft beer and wine.

Shadow walks close to the front door before peeking through a crack in it. He is surprised to see the place is well kept, almost like it had never shut, except it for being empty. He easily picks the lock and heads in towards where he believes he will find the basement. It leads to a long hallway. “Oracle, my signal may get weak. Try to a keep a lock on me.” Shadow finds a door near the end of the corridor.

**X**

In the Justice League Watchtower, Martian Manhunter sees news footage of a recent case of insanity ‘virus’ outbreak in Bludhaven, keeping Nightwing busy. Martian Manhunter knows the League is already stretched thinly due to global issues. He starts to monitor the situation closely and hopes League members will get back soon.

**X**

Shadow opens the door to reveal the room where Batgirl and Supergirl are. They are in a room with a large glass window and surrounded by ugly Harley Quinn loyalists; most likely Joker’s old men with horrible make-up jobs. Shadow hides just outside the open doorway in the darkness; the only light coming from the occupied room, When Shadow entered the basement, he immediately assessed the situation. He saw Kryptonite, probably synthetic, by Supergirl and Batgirl’s belt on a table near the guards. Batgirl and Supergirl were still chained to the wall.  He notices the military gear. _Stolen two days ago from a truck stolen by Poison Ivy._

_Ten guards, four armed, two trained on the girls. An open room, leaving me not much to work with._ His eyes then fall on a desk with a switch for power, and a small plant. _Quinn and Ivy working together, of course._ His eyes then spot a beaker with a Scarecrow insignia on it. _Scarecrow is in on this too? This complicates things._ Shadow shifts his posture in order to attack then assesses the odds. _I have 30 seconds to clear the room before someone sounds an alarm._

Shadow throws a Shard of Darkness at the power switch on the desk. It’s a direct hit and the power goes out. He switches his cowl to ‘detective’ mode allowing him to see everything with the help of thermal and sonar. The guards start to panic a little. He moves silently, taking out four startled guards before anyone realizes they are not the only ones in the room. Batgirl smiles as she hears thugs drop to the floor. Shadow takes out the final guy. _Twenty-four seconds, not bad._

He frees Batgirl as Scarecrow, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy enter the room. By then, a backup generator kicked in and brought all the lights on in the basement. Shadow turns to face them while Batgirl starts to work on the Kryptonite on the floor, using a Batarang to undo the screws.

Harley Quinn turns to Scarecrow frustrated. “I told you he would be a problem.” 

“No matter, I do need a male test subject.” Fifteen Harley Quinn thugs storm the room. Batgirl gives the Kryptonite to Shadow. It’s a rather large chunk, but still small enough for him to stick it with his other piece of Kryptonite in his belt. Batgirl frees Supergirl from her chains. She falls into the shorter blonde’s arms but slowly regains strength. Shadow and Batgirl, who is partially supporting Supergirl’s weight, stand in a defensive stance.

Batgirl says to their savior. “Bout time you showed up.”

Shadow replies with cynical venom. “Sorry, I was taking care of adult business, not at the arcade.”

Batgirl ignores his jab at her and says, “You got a way out?” Shadow and Batgirl realize they will need both hands to fight so they gently let Supergirl onto the ground.

Shadow replies. “I always do.” The thugs and Harley Quinn rush them. Shadow throws a smoke pellet on the ground disorientating everyone. Batgirl springs into action, combating the thugs with power and speed. Supergirl leans against a wall and watches them fight the thugs. She gasps as she sees Scarecrow get behind Batgirl and drug her. Supergirl tries to warn them but her voice is too weak and only a little squeak comes out. Batgirl is taken away by Scarecrow as Shadow lands a knockout punch on Harley Quinn. A crack is heard as he connects.

The Shadow finishes off the last two thugs. He growls in annoyance and kicks a thug, who was slightly conscious, out cold in frustration. Supergirl feels some of her strength return but not fully. She observes Shadow tie up the thugs and Harley Quinn. “Let’s go,” he says in a rough voice. He carries Harley Quinn to the surface with him as Supergirl stumbles a little behind him. They exit the bar and Shadow contacts Oracle. “I got Quinn. She was working with Poison Ivy and Scarecrow. They have Batgirl though, I have Supergirl with me.”

Oracle replies. “Ok, police are on the way, how is Kara?”

Shadow glances at her and replies. “A little shaken up, Poison Ivy had got ahold of some synthetic blue Kryptonite, I’ll analyze it later.”

“That’s good she’s ok. I’ll let you know if I hear about Batgirl or any of the other escaped criminals.” As formal as Oracle is being, Shadow can still hear the worry in her voice. She and Batgirl have grown close. Oracle can’t take losing another one. He glances up the street and sees the flashing police lights.

He ties Harley Quinn to a lamp post before grabbing Supergirl by the arm and saying, “Come on.” He pulls her into the darkness and they move through Gotham.

“Where are we going?” asks Supergirl. She pauses briefly to be yanked towards a fire escape. She follows Shadow through tight alleys.

“Home, I need to start making sense of all this. Plus, you also need rest.” He takes her to a part of Gotham she has not seen before. It is on the border of the slums and the dock district. Shadow keeps them out of the light before going to the side of a house. “Hold onto me.” Supergirl obeys and Shadow grapples up to a balcony. He opens the door and enters. Supergirl follows. Shadow closes the doors to the balcony then spins around quickly as he hears a floorboard squeak.

Scarlett enters his room and switches the light on to see Supergirl slumped on his bed and Shadow about to throw a projectile at her. He lowers his arms and relaxes. “Tough night.”

Scarlett nods and replies, “Supergirl?”

He turns to her and sighs. “She may have to stay with us for a little until I can solve this problem.”

Scarlett yawns, “You be careful.” She leaves and heads to bed. Supergirl sleepily watches Shadow undress to his underwear before pulling on some bed clothes. She giggles a little, in surprise of how toned and built his muscles are, then realizes who it is.

“No way, you’re him?”

“Yep”

“Huh.” Supergirl nods then asks “How come we’re not going back to Stephanie’s?”

James calmly replies. “If they figure out who she is, they will go to her house. If you are there a number of problems will arise.” Supergirl nods since he is right.

“What about her mom?”

“She’s on a midnight shift. She won’t be home until after sunrise. She’s only in danger if they find out who Batgirl is. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Supergirl nods again.

She pulls the covers over her before saying, “Where are you going to sleep?” then yawns and snuggles into James’ bed. She is fast asleep within a minute, probably as she was still suffering from effects of the Kryptonite.

James says to no one, “I don’t want to be flung through a wall so I’ll sleep on the floor.” He grabs a spare single mattress under his bed and lays it down on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was gonna wait a little for people to comment. Figured I'd just post the next chapter since I finished editing it.


	3. Chapter 3

Morning rolls around fast. Kara wakes up and sees James doing press-ups. He says, “Morning,” as soon as he hears her move on the bed.

Supergirl stares at him before picking up it was getting a little creepy and replies. “Morning.” James stops doing press-ups and chucks some girl clothes at her. “These are mine, how did you get them?” she says while looking at the clothes.

“I got some of your stuff from Stephanie’s.”

James heads downstairs to give Kara some privacy for changing. Kara changes then decides to explore his room, his closet it first. She sees so many sports clothes with his nicknames on the back of some: Dr J, JR, Rola, J.Rola, The Doctor, James, and Doctor J. Then she sees a couple of Shadow suits, hidden in the corner.

When she moves from the closet, she spots a family portrait. It has James with his father and mother, three sisters and his brother; it’s dated almost 10 years ago.

“What are you doing?” James says leaning on the doorway. 

Kara jumps and realizes she’s been caught. “Sorry. I like your family. Where are they?” she says as she motions to the picture.

James replies a little sadly, “My father and my sister Jessica were murdered six weeks after that photo. A couple of years later my mother ran off. The rest of us live here. Though Daniel is with his girlfriend now and Laura is travelling the world.”

“Sorry. I know what it’s like to lose family.” 

James takes another glance at the picture before heading out of his room. “Come on.” Kara follows him downstairs to find breakfast for her with Scarlett sitting at the table.

Scarlett beams a smile at her. “Morning, Kara.”

Kara looks at James who answers the question reflecting in her eyes. “Scarlett, my older sister.” Kara nods and smiles at Scarlett. She’s changed a lot since the photo was taken. James wants to give them some one-on-one time, so he heads upstairs to get the documents he needs to help rescue Batgirl.  He had already eaten his cereal and cleaned up.

Kara sits at the table with Scarlett and tentatively picks the food she wants. She eats her food and sits in awkward silence, awkward for her anyway. Scarlett comfortably sips at her coffee and reads the newspaper, well aware of how the blonde girl is feeling.

“How are you doing, Kara?”

Kara jumps at Scarlett’s voice, causing the bagel in her hand even flies out of it towards the sink. Scarlett laughs and gets up to retrieve it. “Tired,” says Kara while watching her. “Kept having dreams about Stephanie,” she says as she rubs her temples.

“Must be hard for you, not knowing where she is.”

Kara simply nods as she takes the bagel back and starts spreading cream cheese over it. “I’m not too worried though. Scarecrow and Ivy are nasty but not as bad as others.” Though she puts up a brave front, her voice betrays her slightly.

Scarlett frowns as she takes a sip of her coffee. “Do you really believe that? James doesn’t tell me a lot about these ‘supervillains’, but from what I can gather he thinks they’re all equally dangerous.”

Kara takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “No. To be honest, I’ve never been so scared in all my life. Batgirl and I have been through a lot but we’ve never been separated like this.” Kara takes a quiet bite of her bagel as she thinks about what to say next.

“Well, you have my brother. If anyone can find her, it’s him.”

Kara smiles with a mouthful of bagel and takes a gulp of orange juice. “I’m beginning tah shee ‘at.” Scarlett laughs at the poor display of manners from the superhero. It’s not every day you see Supergirl talk with a mouthful of food.

James comes downstairs with all his supplies and says to Kara, almost like an order, “We're going.” Kara gets up quickly, shoves the rest of the bagel in her mouth, puts on the coat James threw at her, and follows him to his car. He closes the trunk on his stuff and gets in.

After a long drive, they pull up in front of an old small warehouse. James grabs the bag out the trunk and opens the door to the building. Kara follows closely and closes the door behind her after she steps inside. The door locks with an audible click. The inside of the warehouse reveals a large empty room. James pushes a button on his key ring and a door leading to a downward stairwell appears. He heads down the stairs with Kara close behind. They enter a much bigger room with a lab, computer with multiple screens, a small first aid bay, and compartments filled with various items from weaponry to archives. There is a small training area off to the side too.

Kara looks around with amazement. “Wow, nice hideout.”

“Batman thought it would be best if I had a small base in the city to use,” says James. “Batman and I are working on cars, planes and boats but for now, here it is.” Kara is about to touch a button on the wall.

“Don’t touch anything,” he says without looking.

Kara pulls her hand back before James heads to the lab. He reaches into his bag and pulls out the blue Kryptonite. Kara is thankfully far enough away that she doesn’t feel the effects of the synthetic rock. He places it into a chamber and the computer gets to work on the analysis. Kara looks around the room further to see more Shadow suits being repaired by machines.

“Go to the medical zone.” Kara jumps at James’ abruptness but obeys. “I’m going to run a few tests on you to see the effect of the blue Kryptonite.”

Kara makes a face. “Ok but be careful, I don’t want to kick you through the ceiling.” She says the last part with a wink. James doesn’t react to her attempt at humor and takes her blood for analysis. He does a couple of eye tests, and coordination and concussion tests to see if Kara is running on all cylinders. She passes with near perfect results. Her blood test comes back showing no signs of infection either.

James and Kara head to the training area. “When the Kryptonite results come back, we can make a remedy for it so it won’t affect you so much, and then we can go and find Stephanie,” he says with his back to her.

Kara crosses her arms and frowns at James. “Alright, that’s it. I’m tired of you bossing me around like a ten year-old delinquent...or a dog. I’m a person with feelings you know. Besides, who put you in charge?” Kara mumbles the last phrase under her breath. It does not go unmissed by James.

“It’s my city. I know what’s going on.”

“Says who? I’m the one with the superpowers, and Steph’s _my_ best-friend.” 

James suppresses the urge to roll his eyes. “Doesn’t mean you know what needs to be done.”

“We’ll see about that. I’ll fight you for it.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” she says as she bounces on the balls of her feet. “I’ll fight you for it.” Normally, Kara’s headstrong attitude sits at the edge of her conscious and only comes out through verbal challenges. But with no recent outlet for her building frustration and the fear of losing her best-friend sitting at the back of her mind… Well, there’s only so much a girl can take.

James shrugs his shoulders in a ‘this is a waste of time’ motion.  “Ok.”

He takes a combative stance and Kara copies him. Without warning, she rushes at him and they engage in trained combat fighting. Kara quickly ends up on the ground pinned. James releases her to allow her to get up and try again. This time she uses her powers to help her, but James is not challenged. He fends off and dodges all her attacks.

_It’s like he’s three moves ahead of me_ , Kara thinks as she gets up again from the mat _._ But once again, her head gets pinned to the ground. She tries to push him off but is having issues. Realizing her physical strength and speed are not at full capacity, James asks “Had enough?”

Kara relents and tries to hide the fact she’s almost on the verge of tears. She doesn’t like being bested, especially in this fashion. “Fine, you can lead.” James detects a sound of sadness in her voice.

“What’s wrong?” He gets off her and stands up. She rolls over into a seated position.

“I seem to screw everything up. Superman is always telling me to step-up. I’m trying to but I keep making things worse.” Kara’s voice cracks at the end. _And Steph’s been kidnapped. I should be better than this. She deserves better. The_ world _deserves better._

James demeanor softens completely as he sits next to her. “I can change that.”

Kara looks at him. “Really? How?” she says with a hint of hope in her voice.

“It’s not a physical problem, your moves are good, but you telegraph your moves. Your main issue is your mind-set. You have to realize just because you may be the strongest and quickest person here, does not make you invincible. Call it playing on face value. I think you fight for the wrong reason.”

Kara always thought she was fighting for the right reasons, just like her cousin; truth, justice, and the American way. Maybe it was time for her to find her own personal mantra; something that hit closer to her heart. “What should I fight for?”

“At the moment, you are trying to prove yourself, even show off. I fight to protect others from fates similar to my family. You have to find the reason why you do what you do. It could be for others protection, love, or just seeing you have the power to make a difference in this world.”

Kara heart wells up with a feeling she can’t place. With excitement, she lunges towards James and hugs him. “Thanks.” James puts an arm around her to lift her up before letting her go and heading to the computer. Kara follows him and finds the results are in.

James reads the sheets of numbers and complex words. He finally says “I had this suspicion. Scarecrow and Poison Ivy have been able to create a synthetic Kryptonite. But one thing still puzzles me.”

“They would have needed a sample of regular Kryptonite first,” interrupts Kara before James can finish his thought.

James nods then sits at his computer chair and thinks, going through a bunch of theories. Kara reads the remedy result. She would need some other chemical in her body to counteract it. James’s lab was already making it but it was going to take time, something they didn’t have much of.

“So this remedy, what is it?” asks Kara.

“Scarecrow uses chemicals in this synthetic Kryptonite, it’s no space rock. The computer has put some chemicals in a piece of our sample that will nullify the effects. It won’t completely stop it, however, because some of it is real Kryptonite.”

He starts running searches about Kryptonite samples. He comes up with a result. Lois Lane had done some research into a break-in at a high class, science lab in Metropolis; it was one of the few labs nut owned by Star Labs Inc. “Let’s check what was stolen,” says James thinking out loud. Sure enough, the inventory was missing two blocks of blue Kryptonite. “That’s where they got it from, Scarecrow has a great knowledge of chemistry and Poison Ivy knows a thing or two about biology. Taking genetic samples of the Kryptonite and using Scarecrow's fear toxins to try and make a better version of Kryptonite. This is a prototype Kara.”

Kara has always been good at science, she had her father to thank for that, but she’s no mind reader and needs James to clarify his theory. “How so?”

James explains. “They could make it so much stronger. If they kept it more like normal Kryptonite and added the toxins as a later effect rather than trying to balance it, the hallucinations would become another side effect. That would be lethal.” Kara nods. Worry is etched on her face. “This could get out of hand very quickly. We need to speak to Harley Quinn.” He goes over to his Shadow suits and puts one on.

Kara uses super speed to change into her uniform. “Where is she now?” she asks.

Oracle comes online to his computer screen and says, “Blackgate for now, she will be moved back to Arkham Asylum tomorrow.”

“Okay, that was creepy,” mumbles Supergirl. Oracle raises an eyebrow before the transmission ends and the screen goes black. Shadow ignores this and shows her the alternate way out.

**X**

Shadow and Supergirl quickly arrive at Blackgate. Shadow enters to see Jim Gordon is there. “Where’s Quinn?”

Gordon points to an interview room. “In there, she’s been a little disorientated after your capture of her.” On their way to Blackgate, Shadow called Commissioner Gordon and requested that he prepare Quinn for interrogation. Harley had been shouting about how Ivy and Scarecrow caught the “Batbrat,” and didn’t need Shadow to clarify as to why he needed to speak with the psychotic clown.

 Shadow and Supergirl enter the interview room to see Harley Quinn sitting in a chair, though strapped is a better term. Quinn’s hands and feet are tightly strapped to her chair. There are some straps that Supergirl thinks are unnecessary. But the fact one of the guards has a nasty red mark across his throat, she thinks that maybe they are necessary.

“Well if it isn’t the wannabe Batman and the Superbrat, come to hurt me some more?”

Shadow’s lip quivers up into a snarl. “Where is Scarecrow hiding?” he says in a threatening voice.

Harley laughs. “I won’t tell you two nothin’.” The hit Shadow had landed was still very evident on Harley’s face.

Supergirl clenches her fist and bares her teeth in a grimace. “You want to see my knockout punch?”

Harley laughs again but louder. “What’s that gonna do, pumpkin?”

Shadow lies. “You know Joker left town, right?” Harley suddenly goes quiet. “Yeah, escaped last night, but he didn’t look for you. He saved Bane before splitting Gotham to go to Europe.”

Harley is rattled. “Wait… th…that can’t be true.”

Shadow continues. “He didn’t even feed your Hyenas when you were gone.”

Harley is now clearly upset. Her handcuffs spring off; she had already opened them before. Thankfully, the other straps hold. She rages at the desk table, yelling, cursing and screaming random words.

“Where’s Scarecrow hiding!?”

“They didn’t tell me!” yells Harley with tears in her eyes. “All they said is it’s dark and cold!” Shadow smiles, satisfied with the information and leaves. Supergirl follows him out.

“Dark and cold,” says Supergirl once they leave the room. “That’s not a lot to go by. But we do know it needs to have plants for Ivy.”

“The woods outside Gotham, that’s my first instinct.”

They head out of Blackgate. It doesn’t take them long to reach the woods. They’re at the edges of the woods when Shadow suddenly stops. Supergirl sighs following it up with, “What now?”

Shadow shushes her then whispers, “Can you hear that?” Supergirl listens then nods. She hears a crackling noise like wood burning in a fire. “I smell smoke.” Supergirl nods again in agreement.

_Stop and pay attention,_ she reminds herself as she scans the skyline. _You can’t save Stephanie if you’re not paying attention._ Supergirl points to a spot above the trees where smoke is rising. “There.”  

“Go put it out. Firefly may be nearby. I’ll find him.” He gives her an ear piece and orders, “For communication, now go!” when she looks at it pointedly. Supergirl flies off at an incredible speed, almost lifting Shadow off the ground.

“Sorry,” she says in her new ear piece. Shadow sighs then takes to the air with his grapple gun. _She doesn’t learn does she?_

“Oracle, I’m heading to that fire in East Gotham, is there any evidence that Firefly is the cause?”

There’s a brief pause before Oracle responds. “All signs point to it, and I have camera footage of him leaving the area.”

“Alright, tell Supergirl to be careful. I gave her an earpiece.”

Shadow is focusing on finding signs of the flying man, when out the corner of his eye he sees Firefly charging at him. Shadow can’t move out of the way fast enough and Firefly strikes a glancing blow to Shadow’s left eyebrow with his gun. Shadow quickly recovers to avoid hitting the ground by firing his grapple gun which takes him to a rooftop. He lands and commando rolls to avoid a burst of flame from Firefly.

Shadow takes less than a moment to assess the situation. _He can use ranged attacks to repel me, and his visor will help him see in smoke. I took him down before but then I had the element of surprise. Shards of Darkness may work._ He sees Supergirl flying above; she put the fire out. Firefly starts to close on Shadow, backing him to an edge. Shadow smiles. Supergirl sees them and is now flying quickly at Firefly. Shadow throws a Shard of Darkness at Firefly, hitting his wrist.

Firefly yelps a little in pain but then laughs when nothing else happens. Shadow then jumps straight up, tucking himself into a ball as Supergirl tackles Firefly. He just jumps high enough to avoid Supergirl and Firefly as she tackles him off the edge and into a billboard. Shadow lands awkwardly, almost rolling his ankle. His jump was not calculated well, he thought more of giving Supergirl the chance to get Firefly then his own safety.

He sits down as Supergirl joins him. Firefly slowly gets unstuck from the billboard and hits the ground. Police officers surround him in seconds. Supergirl extends her hand to help Shadow up. He takes it, somewhat reluctantly, and stands up.

Supergirl gasps. “You’re bleeding badly.” Shadow feels the blood dripping from his wound, soaking his eyebrow.

He says dismissively, “It is fine.” But Supergirl gives him this concerned look. Shadow sighs. “Fine, we will go back to my base, patch up, and then head to the woods.” Supergirl picks him up bridal style, to Shadow’s surprise, and flies quickly to the warehouse.

As soon as she lands, he gets off her very quickly. “That wasn’t needed,” he comments as he heads inside. Supergirl raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything before following him in. Shadow heads for the medical bay and takes off his mask. It is covered in blood and his wound looks bad. Supergirl covers her mouth when she sees the blood covered his mask and his face. It had run down the whole left side of his face, making him look like Two-Face with Red instead of Blue.

Shadow chucks his mask into a box that says ‘repair’. He then gets a wet towel and starts to wipe the blood off his face. He looks at the damage in a mirror. _Just a deep graze, no stitches required._ Supergirl motions to him to lie down on the bed.

He asks “Why?”

“I can fix it.” Shadow sighs and does so. Supergirl wipes more blood away before using her freeze breath to seal the wound.

“Focus on precision; I don’t want my whole head frozen.”

Supergirl crosses her arms. “I don’t need you telling me how to use my powers.” She raises her hand when Shadow opens his mouth to say something. “Don’t even start.” Supergirl focuses on Shadow’s wound again. She opens her mouth, looks down at Shadow, and then tightens her mouth as she finishes up. Shadow touches the wound, it is a little cold but sealed.

“Thank you,” he says as he gets off the bed and heads to the computer. He crosses Firefly and Harley Quinn off the list of villains Oracle gave him. That left Two-Face, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy and Scarecrow still at large. He goes to his reserve suits and grabs a spare mask. Supergirl notes he seems a little annoyed. She knows it’s about Firefly jumping him.

“Hey, you can’t stop everything. You’re human, you make errors. It’s okay. You survived and can fight again.”

Shadow looks at her darkly. “I shouldn’t have given him the chance.” He switches the news on the computer to hear if there is any information on the escaped criminals.

Supergirl says in an understanding voice, “You can’t cover everything and look after me at the same time.” Shadow still looks dark. Supergirl tries a different tactic; comfort. “I think you do great in whatever you do. l-” She’s cut off as the news cast suddenly shows a feed of Batgirl, chained up and gagged.

The gag is removed and screams, “Somebody help me! He’s insane!” before she is gagged again. The camera then pans over some captured Gotham citizens suffering from Scarecrows gas.

The camera then pans to Scarecrow, smiling. “Hi Shadow and your new girlfriend Supergirl.” Shadow narrows his eyes while Supergirl blushes a little before getting a serious face on in case Shadow saw it. Scarecrow continues. “You two have 72 hours to rescue your failed friend before the fear strain drives her to insanity. Finding us won’t be as easy as last time. Happy hunting, oh and people of Gotham, if the new super couple fail, I’ll start pumping my new gas through Gotham City, Metropolis and wherever I can reach. I’m sure these next couple of days will make you really look into yourself and ask who you really are.”

The transmission ends, but not before tears fall from Batgirl’s mask. Shadow strikes the desk with his fist in anger. He quickly re-composes himself and sits down. He takes off his mask and rests his head on his hand, thinking.

When Shadow looks up at Supergirl, he sees she’s still staring at the screen. There’s a slight red tinge to her eyes that intensifies the longer she stares at the news reporters commenting on the transmission. “Supergirl?...Supergirl...Kara!”

Supergirl snaps out of her reverie and looks down at Shadow; her eyes are back to their normal blue. “We need to save her, James. We have to.” Shadow merely nods. She was right but at the same time wrong. Batgirl’s life wasn’t the only thing on the line, the entire city and then some was at risk. And Two-Face and Mad Hatter were still on the loose.

Oracle appears on the screen again. “I see, Shadow, you pulled files on the woods outside Gotham. I’ve had news reports Mad Hatter is in that area so be careful.”

“Thanks, Oracle.” Shadow checks Supergirl again to see she her shoulders are relaxed and her eyes are dry.

Supergirl makes a face and tilts her head when she looks down at James. “Mad Hatter? What sort of villain calls himself that?”

“One with an obsession for Alice in Wonderland. He’s dangerous. He possesses the ability to create hypnotic suggestions when he is wearing the right hat.”

“Like mind control?”

Shadow nods. “Last thing I need is you trying to kill me.”  Supergirl smiles a little at the comment but quickly realizes what it could mean for Gotham.

“Right. So, what’s our next step?”

Shadow types on the computer and brings up a map of the area where the Mad Hatter was spotted. “We find Batgirl.”


	4. Chapter 4

Shadow and Supergirl leave the ‘Shadowcave’ in a hastened fashion. Their exploits through the day took longer than expected as now the sun is setting on Gotham City. They reach the woods just as the sun dips below the skyscrapers.

“Keep your eyes open.” Supergirl nods and follows The Shadow on foot as they patrol the forest. Nothing catches their attention until Shadow pauses and looks around with an odd expression. Supergirl picks up on it. “What’s wrong?” Shadow shapes his hand to a fist takes a few steps the left and knocks on air like a door. Only thing is, it makes a wooden sound back. “This is an illusion?”

Shadow nods. Supergirl uses her super speed to feel along where he knocked and behind them. “He’s got us, but we can fight back.” Supergirl returns the nod and heads forward along a path that had been created in the illusion. Shadow follows close behind looking for signs of the Mad Hatter.

Supergirl points ahead suddenly. “There’s a picnic table.”

Shadow notices it. “We need to be careful before he fully takes control.”

Both heroes cautiously approach, Shadow with a Shard of Darkness drawn. They hear Mad Hatter cackle. “Welcome, welcome. I see you are looking for something too, is it Alice?” The table suddenly reveals a gagged and blindfolded blonde in a blue dress sitting tied to a chair.

Supergirl whispers, “It’s not Batgirl.”

Mad Hatter is a little disappointed. “Not your friend no, she’s stuck in Scarecrow’s lab. But now, let the fun begin.” Everything disappears to reveal another illusion of the forest. Now shaped like an obstacle course with features of Wonderland.

Shadow looks at Supergirl. “I’ve dealt with him before. We have to keep running this obstacle course if we want to find Alice.” They start the obstacle course, dodging razor sharp clocks, jumping over decks of massive playing cards and occasionally fighting off a convict under the hypnotic powers of Mad Hatter.

Shadow sees a door ahead. “This may be the end of the illusion.” He opens the door and realizes he is wrong. Another path heads into a dark part of the forest. Supergirl is less than impressed.

“You’re  _never_ wrong,” she says with a slight smirk. Shadow ignores it.

“Not often, it can’t be far though.”

As he says that, the path warps around leading in a new direction. As they head down the path, Supergirl feels her eyelids get heavy. They reach a clearing only to be set upon by ten Rabbit masked thugs. Shadow springs into action while Supergirl stumbles around throwing wild punches. “Yes Supergirl, close your eyes, give up,” Mad Hatter jeers.

Shadow deals with four of the thugs but is being overwhelmed now. He spots Supergirl standing in a stupor. “Supergirl, don’t fall asleep! Kara!” He breaks free of the thugs to shake her. Supergirl is now fully awake and sees Shadow get hit from behind. She starts fighting properly, leaving the remaining thugs pummeled. Shadow gingerly gets up as Supergirl disposes of the last thug.

“Thanks,” they both say at the same time. Supergirl nervously smiles at Shadow but he looks away.

“There’s another door,” he says. “This is it.” The heroes approach the door with caution. Shadow opens it to reveal a large room with a picnic table at the center, covered in homemade baking and cutlery. Mad Hatter sits next to the unnamed blonde, holding a knife.

“Look Alice, the guests have arrived, so late, so late,” he says with an evil smile.

“Let her go, Mad Hatter,” orders Shadow, direct as usual. They walk up to only a couple of feet away from him.

“No, no, no, no. Time is not right. Is this Alice or is it not? I must decide, I must decide.”

Supergirl remembers a report she read on Mad Hatter. Whenever he got the ‘wrong’ Alice, he would murder her and dump the body in a random location.

Supergirl shifts to the other side of Shadow as the Hatter rambles on.  _Thank goodness for monologues_ , she thinks. Shadow groans as the Mad Hatter continues. “I don’t have time for this.” Shadow swiftly walks over to Mad Hatter and knocks the knife from his hands before picking him up by his collar. He takes Mad Hatters hat and throws it to Supergirl. She incinerates it with her heat vision.

Shadow leans his head near Mad Hatters. “Talk.” The illusion disappears to reveal the real forest.

Mad Hatter stammers, “But Alice, I must have Alice.” Shadow gives up trying to interrogate him and tosses him to Supergirl. She catches the midget and asks him, “What do you know about Scarecrow and Ivy? Why do they want Batgirl? Tell me!”

“I don’t know, they said to keep you busy and I get Alice.”

Shadow frees ‘Alice’. “What’s your name?”

“Rebecca.”

“Okay Rebecca you’re safe now. He won’t hurt you.”

“Thank you.” She hugs him. Shadow is surprised by this and awkwardly hugs her back.

“You got a phone on you?” he asks her once she lets go of him.

“Y-Yeah.”

 “Leave the woods, call the police, and get home.”

“Yes, okay. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I thought he would kill me.” She starts to cry. Shadow understands, kidnapping and whatever Mad Hatter made her do is very traumatizing, especially for a teenager.

Shadow looks for assistance and sees Supergirl is still trying to question Mad Hatter. He puts a supportive hand on the girl’s shoulder. “It’s ok, Rebecca, he won’t be getting out in a hurry.” She pulls him into another hug. Supergirl sees what’s happening at the table and admires this soft touch Shadow is applying. Shadow lifts Rebecca up and walks over to Supergirl. He handcuffs Mad Hatter and they reach the edge of the woods where Gordon and the police wait.  _Oracle must have called them._ Rebecca gets in a police car as they deal with the Mad Hatter; they’ll question her about what happened when she’s in a less fragile state of mind`.

“Great job.” Gordon acknowledges the two heroes. Shadow curtly nods to Gordon before heading back into the woods. Supergirl salutes Gordon and gives him a little smile before taking off after Shadow.

Shadow stops in a small open space near a river. He uses his ‘detective’ vision to isolate heat signatures. He scans around the area, looking into the trees, isolating objects looking for something humanlike. He picks up a faint signature of another form close to Scarecrow’s height. He heads off in that direction with Supergirl close behind. She catches up to him and grabs his shoulder. “What?” he asks her.

“You know where we’re going?”

Shadow points at a clearing. Supergirl uses her X-Ray vision but only get so far as the outside of a hut-like building. “There’s a building there that looks like a large hut. I can’t see through it though. It’s lined with lead.” Shadow nods and keeps moving with Supergirl walking by his side. “Hey, what you did back there. It was nice. I didn’t know you had that side of you.”

“It was needed. And it exists.”

“It was amazing.”

“Sometimes James has to help Shadow out sometimes.” Shadow and Supergirl set off again but before they can reach the person another appears sharply on their left.  _Ivy._

“Up late, Shadow, surely it must be bed time.” She blows yellow dust at him. Shadow covers his face with his hands while Supergirl swings her arms in a spinning motionthat creates a wind force and pushes the dust away. Poison Ivy is surprised but then smiles. “Okay, you want to play? Let’s see what happens when you mess with Mother Nature.”

Vines appear from all angles. Shadow evades them as they try to grab him. Supergirl saws them in half with her heat vision as they chase her. “See, this is why I don’t eat my greens!” she yells out. A large vine whacks her in the back and sends her into a wall.

“Focus!” yells Shadow as he jumps over a vine.

Supergirl grabs two vines that wrapped around her legs and rips them. As she burns and rips more of them, Shadow continues to fight his share of them. “They keep multiplying!” she yells as two vines grow out of one. Supergirl is suddenly overwhelmed with them.

“Supergirl!” Shadow goes to help but gets yanked back by three vines. The vines around Supergirl grow and tighten their hold on her. As Shadow pulls at the ones on him, he sees a red glow come from beneath the vines. The vines explode and Supergirl bursts forth from them. Burning debris flies towards Shadow and catches the vines he’s working with on fire. This gives him the chance to get away.

Supergirl cuts more vines in half with her heat vision but they keep growing back. When she cuts one vine, it cuts a pole in half, which falls on a wire. The broken wire swings down and electrocutes a clump of vines. Supergirl watches as they seem to scream in pain from being electrocuted.  _Electricity_ , thinks Supergirl,  _that’s it._

She turns to see Shadow is a step ahead of her. He pulls out a Shard of Darkness, and hits a button on the middle of it. He throws it at Poison Ivy who let a vine catch it and laughs.

“Really, that’s all you have.”

For once Shadow smiles; the Shard of Darkness becomes electrified and shocks the vine and Poison Ivy into submission. The vines wrapped around Supergirl’s legs weaken and fall off. Shadow cuffs Ivy and says to Supergirl, “Take her directly to Arkham. Take her to the security at the front gate. They’ll handle it from there.”

Supergirl takes off with Ivy to Arkham Asylum. Shadow presses on to the original objective, to find the hut. When he finds it, he surveys the small building. The only entrance is a door that’s locked. He bashes the door down to find what he’s been looking for. He sees Batgirl chained to a chair, and at the same time sees Scarecrow disappear through a trap door. He contemplates going after him but decides getting Batgirl is a victory for now. Supergirl comes back from hand delivering Poison Ivy to see her best friend weak and beaten.

Shadow cuts the chains. “We got you, Steph,” he says as she falls into his arms. Shadow motions for Supergirl to pick Batgirl up. She grabs Shadow with one arm and flies the two heroes to the Shadowcave.

Once they land and enter, Supergirl takes Batgirl to the medical wing and Shadow assesses the injuries. “Not bad, some bruising and slight fractures, but nothing fully broken, no toxins in your bloodstream either but you need to rest.”

Batgirl spits out a mixture of blood and water; mostly water though. “Crane is messed up. He said he’s going to poison all of Gotham.”

“I’ll stop him.” Shadow heads to his computer to find clues to Scarecrow’s whereabouts.

Supergirl sits next to Batgirl. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she says in a quiet voice. “You are okay, right?”

Batgirl nods. “I’ll be fine. What about you?”

Supergirl’s brow furrows. “What about me?”

Batgirl glances at Shadow. “You and him.”

“Oh,” Supergirl shrugs, “we understand each other. He’s very helpful.”

“I know, he certainly is.”

Supergirl looks sheepishly at the ground. “I know who he really is. Like who he  _really_ is.”

Batgirl nods with a slight smile. “I gathered that.”

“You know, I tried to fight him earlier.”

Batgirl bursts out in laughter. “No way. Did you get your butt handed to you?”

Supergirl narrows her eyes at Batgirl. “Yes and stop laughing.” Batgirl’s smile widens then she looks at Shadow.

“Why don’t you go see what frowny-face is up to?”

Supergirl’s brow furrows again as she tilts her head with a slight smile. “Frowny-face?”

“Tim and I sometimes call him that.”

“Does he know?”

Batgirl’s eyes widen as she looks back at Shadow. “Oh, I hope not.”

Supergirl smiles and pats Batgirl on the knee before walking over to Shadow to see what he is doing. He’s tracing samples of dirt and certain chemical balances and trying to find those in Gotham. “You find him yet?”

“No. There are a lot of places to hide in Gotham. It could take a while.” He crosses Mad Hatter and Poison Ivy off the wanted list.

As Shadow works on finding Scarecrow, Supergirl notices a folder with ‘Kara Zor-El/Supergirl’ on the front. She takes it off the bench and starts flipping through it. Shadow doesn't seem bothered. She walks back to Batgirl as she reads it.

“What is this?” Supergirl asks her.

“Batman and Oracle, with the help of Nightwing, Robin, Shadow and me composed folders of information on every hero and villain. They do it to keep tabs on people, know how they think, act, behave. It assesses powers, psychological patterns, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. There is a section on how to deal with rogue heroes too. It also has basic information and current locations.”

“Huh, interesting,” Supergirl says absentmindedly as she continues looking through the folder.

“Umm Kara, it’s probably not a good idea to read yours yet.”

Supergirl ignores her and reads a file in the folder out loud. “Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl…” she mutters the basics on her under her breath before finding the comments on her. “Thoughts: Superman feels she is strong and can be an asset but uses her powers recklessly, thus sometimes endangering innocent civilians. Nothing new there.” She continues.

“Batman feels she is headstrong and doesn’t contemplate her actions fully but shows some potential as a crime fighter if she can control herself. Robin feels she does not listen well and will go off without considering consequences. ‘She doesn’t listen to me and treats me like I’m an idiot. I also find her demeanor annoying’. What?” Batgirl laughs at this. Supergirl is less than impressed.

“Annoying Tim? Really? Anyway. Batgirl feels Supergirl is fun to be with. Really that’s all Steph?” Batgirl shrugs and Supergirl continues. “Shadow feels that although her intentions are good, her behavior and immaturity when fighting crime is not. She shows potential to be a great ally in the future when she stops treating everything like a game.” Supergirl grits her teeth.

Batgirl grimaces and tries to reassure her friend. “Now, Kara, there were some positives in there.” She knows a tantrum in here could cause serious damage. Shadow’s computer is hard to replace.

Supergirl speed reads to see what’s at the bottom of the page. “Debatable whether to recruit her to the Justice League,” is the last line in a summary by the all the members.

Supergirl marches over to Shadow, stroppy and filled with rage. Shadow heard her reading her file and waited for the volcano to erupt, the axe to fall, or any other cliché that fits a girl about to fly at you with a murderous and hostile intent.

“Really, like a game?! I seem to remember saving your butt earlier! But no, it’s just a game to her! Immature?!” Her eyes go red, Shadow can feel the heat. He raises his hands like he’s surrendering.  _She’s got a short memory and fuse. Note it._

“Kara! Read the update.” Shadow calmly but nervously says, pointing at the printer. He takes the folder off her before it’s torn to shreds with her strong fingers. He takes the newly printed page and gives it to her before retreating to give her space.

“Amendment and update to Shadow’s previous report. I feel after spending time with Kara that she is very astute and with a few helpful pointers has become more responsible and shows improvement from the last report. She looks beautiful, no matter the mood.” She pauses briefly to take in what he wrote.

She has improved her listening and has learned not to rush into combat. Her demeanor is not annoying but somewhat refreshing. With more mentoring she could become even greater as she slowly learns the times to be relaxed and the times to be switched on for a fight. Her ability to operate in a team is improving thus I recommend her to join me in the Justice League.”

A huge smile spreads across Supergirl’s lips. “Did you really mean all that?”

“I wouldn’t have wrote it if I didn’t mean it.”

Supergirl lunges forward and pulls Shadow into a tight hug. He tentatively hugs her back then stops when he hears a crack. “Kara. Too tight.”

Supergirl lets go with an apologetic face. “Sorry.”

She smiles then excitingly flies the file over to Batgirl. She saw the hug that took place between Shadow and Supergirl and figured he won her over. “Kara that’s amazing!” she says once she finishes reading the file.

Supergirl sits next to Batgirl. Suddenly, it hits her, what she just read. “Wait, hold on. What was that last line again?”

Batgirl scans down the file and reads part of it. “‘...thus I recommend her to join me in the Justice League’.”

“Hold the phone,” says Supergirl while taking the file from Batgirl. “How come Kal didn’t tell me Shadow was in the League? How come  _he_ didn’t tell me he was in the League?” she says motioning to Shadow who is still working at his computer.

Batgirl shrugs. “He’s a tight-lipped guy, you know that.”

“When did he join them?”

“At the start of the year, but you should read  _his_ folder; it’s top class according to Tim and Nightwing. High recommendations all around. And you’ve seen him in the field.”

“Who stores the folders?”

“Alfred. But they are all in the Batcave. Shadow would have taken yours to see who he’s dealing with.”

“Of course.” She looks over to where Shadow is and is shocked to see him gone. As she stands up to look around the cave for him, Batgirl speaks.

“Go find him, Kara, he’s trying to do it alone again.” There is almost worry in her voice.

“Again?” She says as she looks down at Batgirl.

“There were two behavioral tendencies that were negative in his file” she explains. “One, is he’ll put himself into life threatening situations to save others when it’s not needed.” Supergirl remembers Shadow and Firefly. He could have gone to the left or right and she still would have gotten Firefly. But he jumped to stand Firefly up and give her a clean shot at the villain. He tweaked his ankle in the process.

“And like Batman, Nightwing, and Robin,” Batgirl continues, “he tries to do things himself. Even if he needs help he tries to do it alone first.”

“What do I do?”

Batgirl crosses her arms. “What do you think?”

Supergirl nods and takes off out of the cave. She finds Shadow not far away, grappling through Gotham. She catches him in midair and takes him to a rooftop.

“What are you doing!” he says as he breaks free of her.

“I’m here to help.”

“I can do this alone.”

“No you can’t.”

“Watch me.” He turns to leave but she grabs his hand.

“Stop!” She takes a breath and continues, but speaks softly as she does. “Talk to me. What’s going on? Why are you doing this?”

“Because I have to.”

She tightens her grip on Shadow’s hand but not enough for it to hurt. “There’s something more going on, isn’t there?”

“Yes. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Supergirl lets out a snort and rolls her eyes. “That’s a little hard to do.”

“He has Kryptonite, remember?”

Supergirl’s smile drops to a frown. “Oh, right.” She lets go of Shadow’s hand and wraps her arms around herself, then suddenly stands up straight and puts her hands on her hips. “Wait, when has that ever stopped me before? Or Superman? There’s always this risk we could get hurt or even die. You knew that when we paired up to find Batgirl and even before then. So what’s changed?”

“He nearly drove one of my friends to insanity. I don’t want him to hurt another.” Supergirl sighs; she doesn’t know whether to kiss him for his caring or slap him for his stubbornness.

Supergirl walks away from Shadow but keeps him in her sight in case he takes off again. “Everyone I know has told me I need to step up, even Batgirl at one time or another, and it never hit me to take it seriously. But now I am,” she says, finally looking at him. “Now it’s personal, so don’t you  _dare_ think you are doing this alone!”

Shadow sits down at the ledge. “There’s a little more than that going on.”

“Like what?”

“After we got back from Poison Ivy, I got a call from Superman.”

“Oh.” Supergirl joins him sitting on the ledge, her legs swing under it. “Batgirl told me you haven’t met him.”

“I have, I know him quite well, worked with him a couple of times. But he saw the Batgirl video and made me promise to keep you safe or I’d get pummeled.” He looked like he was going to say something else but held it back.

“Whatever he said, I’ll say I forced you into letting me go with you,” she says with a smile then continues on a more serious note. “But you do need help. I’m not a little girl anymore.”

“I know, you're older than me.”

She makes a face at the comment. “I know, two years...or is it one? And technically, since I was in suspended animation it’s more like twenty-never mind. But come on, you're in the Justice League where you work with all the big names.”

“It’s only 4 months in relative terms. I know about the suspended animation and all, but I need to tell you something else.” He looks a little nervous, which is weird for him.

Worried by his lack of calmness, she says, “What?”

He sighs as he recomposes himself. “I uh...I kinda like you.” He turns away from her, waiting for laughter, the humiliation, the rejection and the pain that accompanies it.

“James...” He turns back to a serious Supergirl. She puts her hand on his cheek and shakes her head with a slight smile. “You’re such a dork.”

Supergirl leans in and gently touches her lips to Shadow’s. There are no sparks, no fireworks, no silly romantic clichés, just the two of them on a rooftop in Gotham. Before Shadow can act, a first for him, Supergirl pulls away. “But I’m kind of one too.”

Shadow goes to speak but the voice of Oracle in his ear stops him. “Shadow, I found Scarecrow.” He stands up and moves away from a slightly surprised Supergirl.

“I did too. He’s at the water plant.”

“Good, do you have the coordinates?” replies Oracle.

“Yes I do, like last week.” Shadow’s sarcasm doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Of course, I’m speaking with the great Shadow.” Shadow turns around when he hears Supergirl giggle behind him. She stops as he narrows his eyes at her. “I’ve got visual of the plant,” continues Oracle. “He’s got, ten maybe thirteen men outside the building. Thermal visuals show ten more inside. I can’t tell where Scarecrow is. Part of the building is being blocked. I don’t know how.”

“He’ll be in there. Let me worry about finding him.”

“Most likely. What’s your plan of action?”

“I’ll-”

“I’ll take care of the guards,” interrupts Supergirl.

“Are you sure?” Shadow asks with concern in his voice.

Supergirl winks at him and gives him a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll be fine, frowny-face.”

The soft Shadow quickly disappears with a snarl. “Look, just because you kissed me doesn’t mean you get to call me that.”

Supergirl smiles, “Yes it does,” then takes off in the direction of the water plant. His teeth grind together as he controls any impulses to act aggressively. This wasn’t a relationship and he saw she wasn’t taking everything into consideration.

“His goons could be armed with synthetic Kryptonite,” he calls out to her.

“I can deal with them, you taught me how.” Shadow watches her fly away. But he feels a nagging feeling that something would go wrong.

“Um, James?” Shadow mutters a curse under his breath as he remembers Oracle is still listening to him. “Did you just say Supergirl kissed you?”

“That...is for another time. It’s nothing. Can you see any movement inside the building?” he asks as he shoots his grappling gun and swings through the air.

“Can’t tell. Like I said, he has something in place that’s blocking me. When you get in there, you’ll be on your own.”

“I’m used to it.” Any emotional thoughts about what just happened have been swept under the rug for later.

**X**

Shadow had mapped out his entry point to the water plant while Supergirl had her emotional rollercoaster with the reports. He chose a window on the third floor; it had a small platform on the other side he could use to survey the inside from. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to tell her his plan because she took off before he could. He had to deal with the five on top of the flat roof. Supergirl seemed to notice them as well and held off until they were dealt with.

_Three armed; two snipers and a pistol. A knife and a baseball bat. This is tricky. The armed men are primary targets. On the rare chance that I am spotted, my suit won’t protect me. However they are on opposite sides of the building with the pistol in the middle. The knife guy flanks one sniper while the baseball bat man flanks the other. Got it._

Shadow takes advantage of the poor lighting on the roof to move to a building just next to the water plant. With both snipers looking in opposite directions and their partners doing the same, the pistol man was alone. Shadow sneaks onto the roof of the water plant’s main building and gets behind him without making a noise. The pistol man lights his cigarette and draws. As soon as he takes the cigarette out of his mouth, Shadow places him in a choke hold. He passes out leaving Shadow with the superior position. He gets behind the sniper and the knife man.

“Why tonight?” says knife guy. “Scarecrow said it was pleasant outside. What baloney! It’s snowing. I’m freezing my ass off.”

“Shut up, or do you want us both to be his next lab rats?” The sniper interrupts. “That Shadow kid is on his way and with Supergirl.”

“Man, I know what I want for Christmas.” They both laugh at the implication. This angers Shadow a little. He aggressively grabs their heads and smashes them together. Shadow quickly moves in case the other two heard it. They hadn’t but Shadow still scolds himself for acting in rage.

He deals out the same takedown to the final two goons but with more precision and less noise. He finds the window and enters quietly. Oracle speaks to him. “Quite a night you're having.” Her tone sounds like she’s teasing him a little.

“Not now Oracle. What’s up?”

“Well, you know Kara is single.” She is definitely teasing him.

“Don’t.” he says before he cuts the signal. A few seconds later though she reconnects. “Ok, I’m sorry. Two-Face just appeared downtown. He’s looking to regroup his gang.”

“Thanks, send the location.” He leaves it at that and plans his next move, unaware of what is happening outside.

Supergirl wipes imaginary dirt from her hands as she looks at the knocked-out goons around her. “Easy as pie.”

“Supergirl!” She jumps as Batgirl’s voice pops in her ear.

“Batgirl. What are you doing in my ear?”

“Oracle gave me the reins to lead you into battle.”

Supergirl rolls her eyes as she x-rays the building. “I’m not a horse.” The building is oddly empty and Batgirl goes quiet on the other end of the line. “Batgirl, you there?”

“Yeah, but you know what my mom says, ‘if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all’.”

“You’re such a jerk,” says Supergirl as she x-rays the floor below her.

“But you love me anyway,” replies Batgirl as Supergirl notices a section of a sub-level is lead-lined.  _That’s not good_ , she thinks.

“That’s debatable.” Supergirl opens the door to a stairwell and makes her way down it.

“Kara, you see something?”

“Yeah, not sure what to make of it yet.”

“I’ll stay with you as long as I can. Scarecrow has something in place that will block me once you get within a floor or two from him. I’m sorry I can’t give you a pin-point exact distance.”

“That’s fine. You’re not Oracle.”

“Was that an insult or a compliment?”

“Take your pick,” Supergirl says with a smile.

“Whatever. Anyway, once you get within that distance, you’ll be on your own.” Supergirl stops for a moment. With Shadow off doing his own thing, it will be weird for her to be on her own.

“Can’t stop now,” she finally says.

“I know. I’m just worried about what he has in store for you.”

“Me too. There’s a section of a lower floor that’s lead lined. I don’t know for sure, but I figured water plants don’t normally have lead lined rooms. Not in Gotham anyway.” Supergirl bends down to pick up a small silver ball the size of a bouncy ball. “Hey Batgirl, you wouldn’t happen to have video, would you?”

“No, just audio. Why?”

Supergirl x-rays the ball but she can’t see through it. “I just found this small silver ball.” She rolls it between her fingers as she examines it. “I can’t see through it. Maybe-ouch!” Supergirl drops the ball, which is now covered in tiny spikes.

“Supergirl! Are you okay?!”

Supergirl looks at her fingers and watches tiny droplets of blood form on their tips. “That stupid ball just poked me. I…” She suddenly feels light-headed and leans against the stairs’ railing for support. “I’m not…” Her legs give out and she grabs onto the railing for dear life.

“Supergirl! Talk to me! What’s happening!?”

“I’m...aw heck.” Supergirl’s world goes black as she drops to the ground. Two large figures come through a doorway and stop where Supergirl is lying. One of the figures picks her up. The three of them continue down the stairs to where Scarecrow is waiting for his next test subject.

**X**

Shadow finishes surveying the third floor from his position by the window and gets down from the vantage point. The third floor is empty apart from machinery that you would expect to find in a water plant. He makes his way down a stairwell to the second floor.  Again the room is quite dark and empty aside from machinery. _BANG._ Shadow reacts quickly enough to catch a small silver ball inches from his face, fired by a trigger he must have set off. “Oracle, I’m uploading this ball and its schematics to the computer through my cowl, what is it?”

“Not sure, it’s metallic with pore size holes.”

“Ok.” The ball erupts and spikes thrust out of holes. Shadow is pricked and blood starts to appear on his fingers. He drops the ball. He starts to feel dizzy but then the familiar feeling of fear gas comes back; this time stronger than before. Shadow is slipping into a subconscious state.

“Shadow, your vitals are going crazy! Get out of there!”

Shadow is able to climb a ladder to a railing before falling under completely. “Ok Shadow, what are you afraid of?” drones Scarecrow’s voice as Shadow blacks out.

Shadow finds himself out in the rain in the dark. He can hear Scarecrow laugh at his confusion. The surroundings are familiar. The location is just a couple blocks from his house. He watches as men gather around a man with two children. One child is tossed to the side. “NO! NO!” he screams as he watches a replay of the murder of Michael and Jessica Rola. The thugs then turn to Shadow, somewhat aware of his presence. He turns and runs but the thugs are only a couple of steps behind.

Shadow feels slow and scared. He keeps yelling no in fear. The thugs are able to keep up with him no matter his route. Scarecrow laughs as he turns up the intensity of the hallucination. Shadow sees his father, covered in blood and ghostly. “You could have saved me, you could have saved _us_ .” Jessica joins Michael as they follow Shadow as he keeps running. “If only you had been stronger. Now the family is a mess and it’s all  _your_ fault.”

Then, in a moment of clarity, Shadow sees into the future, the training he put himself through, the parties he missed, the girls he rejected, the family being worried sick about what he did at night. But then he remembers why he did it, to save others from what he suffered.

Shadow is still saying no. But now the tone has changed, it isn't in fear, it’s in anger. It is in rebellion to the hallucination. He stops running and the thugs quickly catch up to him. Shadow launches himself at the thugs, and as soon as he lands the first punch, Scarecrow’s hold weakens.

Shadow decks the last thug, and the ghosts of his family disappear.  _I've got to get Scarecrow out of my head._ He heads back to the place of the murder where he finds Scarecrow, or the hallucination of him. “You're not meant to fight back Shadow. But you shall fall soon.” He preps his toxin in the needled fingers of his right hand.

“I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Scarecrow launches himself at Shadow only to miss as Shadow evades. Scarecrow tries lunging attacks a couple more times and fails. Shadow now goes on the attack, landing blow after blow to Scarecrow.

“No! I hit you with enough gas to drive three men insane!”

Scarecrow vanishes and Shadow starts to come to his senses. He opens his eyes to find himself lying down on a platform. He doesn’t move as he hears, “The boss said this trap was triggered and it got him. He can’t be far away.”

“Man, I’d hate to see what nightmare he had.”

“Why can’t he be easier to find? Supergirl was in plain sight.”

_Damn, they got her. She must have been nabbed in the fight outside._ Shadow can now see two goons below the railing. He reaches into his belt and finds his sleep gas pellets. He drops two and waits for the sound of dropping bodies.  _Thud, thud._ Once the gas disappears, Shadow moves down to the unconscious goons and observes them. Nothing special. He is still a little drowsy from the fear gas but decides he must press on.

He finds his way down to the first floor where he sees another stairwell down. He quickly checks the floor he’s on for goons before going down the stairwell. He sees blood on the railing. Shadow uses his cowl to find out who the blood belongs to. The data comes back as a match to Supergirl.  _Strange, a metallic spike shouldn’t be able to draw blood from Supergirl. Unless it has Kryptonite qualities._ He sees a silver spiked ball on the ground.  _Just like the one that got me. She wasn’t meant to come inside the building._

Shadow continues down the stairwell to end at a door. He pulls out a Shard of Darkness and opens the door quickly and quietly. The room glows from the red warning lights that line the ceiling and walls. The room looks empty but Shadow knows it isn’t. He grips the Shard as he weaves through the loud machinery. He stops when the voices of some guards cut through the humming of the machines.

“Keep your eye out, Shadow is around here someplace.” Shadow watches the men part ways in the direction opposite from him. He observes the pattern the guards walk. He notes when they lose vision of each other and the intervals they are alone for. The two guards are unaware of what is to follow. He sneaks up behind one guard, places him into a sleeper hold and drags him into the darkness with the machinery. When the guard passes out, Shadow repeats the action with the other guard and moves on to find Scarecrow and Supergirl.

“Noooooo!” Like second nature, Shadow runs in the direction of the scream. _Kara._

The scream leads him to a door left ajar. He pulls out a Shard of Darkness again and enters the room.

“Will you shut her up!? Someone will hear her,” yells out a thug to another thug.

“Don’t bother,” says Scarecrow, “He’s already here.” All the lights in the dim room flash on. Shadow hides behind a piece of machinery as his eyes adjust to the light. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Shadow moves behind another piece of machinery as he watches the guards look for him. As he moves again, he finally gets a look at Supergirl, who is guarded by five thugs.

Physically, she looks fine, with the exception of a few slight cuts on the left side of her face near her eye. Her eyes are closed with her head lolled to the side and slightly back. Shadow also notices a few tears streaming down her cheek.  _She’s still caught in her nightmare._ He sees Scarecrow by the water controls; there he can manipulate the direct line of water that leads to Gotham.

A thug jumps behind the machine Shadow had been hiding behind but comes up empty. “What the...” He trips and knocks himself out on a pole. Three guards move in the direction of Shadow when their comrade doesn’t answer a call from them.

“Tripwire, the kid’s messing with us.”

Scarecrow watches in sadistic glee as they go after Shadow. However as the guards slowly fall, Scarecrow gets worried. “Move her, I’ll handle the kid.” Shadow still has another trick up his sleeve. He throws smoke pellets which blind four thugs looking for the exit. He jumps into the smoke, taking the goons down before hiding as the smoke clears. The only guard left is the one with Supergirl in his arms.

Shadow gets behind him and taps him on the shoulder. The guard scrambles away from Shadow. He looks between Scarecrow and Shadow then sets Supergirl back in the chair and runs off in fear; deciding his pay wasn’t enough to take the severe beating waiting for him.

“No, please don’t…” Shadow’s gaze flicks from Scarecrow to Supergirl.

“Isn’t she so pretty?” Scarecrow drags one of his needled fingers underneath Supergirl’s chin. The motion breaks the skin and half a thin red smile forms on her neck. Shadow grits his teeth and curls his finger into a fist.

“Please don’t go,” whimpers out Supergirl.

Scarecrow slinks behind Supergirl. “I wonder what she’s dreaming about.”

“Let her go, Crane, this is between you and me.”

Scarecrow ignores his plea and continues to play with Supergirl’s hair. “Maybe it’s  _you_ she’s dreaming about. You did, after all, leave her alone. That’s how _I_ got her.”

“Let. Her. Go,” Shadow says as he positions himself between the water lines and Scarecrow.

“Just imagine Superman and Supergirl, powerless, while Metropolis is having a nightmare.” Supergirl suddenly spasms in pain while in her nightmare. An aimless fist strikes Scarecrow across the jaw which offsets his balance.

“That gas is really messing with her head,” Scarecrow says with glee as he looks at Supergirl. He looks back at Shadow to see he is gone. Scarecrow can only turn his head so far before he sees Shadow’s right foot crash into his head. Scarecrow flies backwards and crashes into a piece of machinery. He stays down. Shadow ties him up and finds the military equipment jamming his communications. He destroys it and contacts Oracle to call the police.

Shadow kneels down in front of Supergirl and rests a hand on her cheek. “Supergirl, wake up.” Her brow scrunches and more whimpers come out but nothing more than that happens. Shadow sighs; he picks her up and carries her out of the water plant. He grapples through the streets back to the Shadowcave as fast as he can.

“What happened?” yells Batgirl as Shadow takes Supergirl to the medical bay and immediately starts to create a chemical mixture to deal with the fear toxin in her blood. His remedy for the Kryptonite is ready but he needs to create a formula that deals with both the Kryptonite  _and_ the toxin. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Scarecrow got her. He got me too.”

“How come you’re okay?”

“Kryptonite, and I’ve had previous experiences.” This is all Shadow had to say for Batgirl to simply nod and watch Shadow work. She knew something bad would happen; she could feel it. Shadow keeps altering chemicals, writing numbers down, creating equations for his remedy. Batgirl notices he’s working overtime.

“It’s my fault. I brought her into this mess, told her about you,” says Batgirl.

“No it’s mine. I shouldn't have let her come with me to the water plant. I could have taken it myself.” Batgirl sees he is beating himself up again.

“Hey, you couldn’t have stopped her anyway, neither of us could. She made her mind up and even we wouldn’t have changed it.”

“Still, I feel responsible. She’s in pretty deep, I could lose her.” His voice is concerned and seems to show compassion for her. 

Batgirl nods then growls in frustration as her phone goes off. “It’s my mom. She’s worried. I told her I was with Kara and Tim but now her texts are getting that worried look to it.”

“Go, I’ve got this.” Batgirl looks from Shadow to Supergirl and back to Shadow. She walks past him and kisses Supergirl on the forehead. “Take care of her, James.”

“I will. I promise.”

Shadow doesn’t watch Batgirl leave, he’s too focused on Supergirl’s vitals and balancing the antidote. He knows if he’s too slow, she could go insane. Shadow finishes the equation to balance the chemical mixture and puts the theory into trial by running simulations on the computer. The first test fails so Shadow alters it a little. The second test passes but Supergirl’s vitals are reaching extreme levels. Shadow does the final testing before creating the new antidote. He finishes testing then watches the computer finalize the mixture for the antidote. He runs to his lab to create it.

Once done, Shadow pours it into a vial and fills up a needle to inject the antidote into her bloodstream. He walks over to Supergirl and marks a spot on her right elbow to test the toughness of her skin by using a dry needle from an empty vial. It enters her shoulder with no problem since the Kryptonite affected the density of her skin.

When Shadow does the real injection, it goes straight in. Now he waits for her to wake up. He thought what would happen to him if she lost her sanity or died. Superman would come down hard on him, so would Batman. Superman may even break that vow and kill him. But his worries are eased as Supergirl’s vitals head towards normal. About 40 minutes later, Supergirl awakens. Shadow breathes a sigh of relief before leaving her to rest.

**X**

Supergirl gently lands on the roof of an apartment building three blocks from Stephanie’s house. Shadow swings in behind her and lands next to her. She walks across the roof towards the ledge where the sun is just coming over the horizon of the city. Shadow follows her and watches the sunrise with her.

“What’s it going to be like when you get home?” he asks.

“Superman will freak once I tell him what happened. He’ll probably also kill you when he sees you again.” Supergirl sneaks a glance at Shadow and smiles. “Him, I’m not worried about. It’s getting into Steph’s house, that’s the issue. I’m pretty sure Ms. Brown is going to tear my head off for staying out ‘til dawn. You’re lucky. Scarlett knows about you.”

“It’s not that easy, she worries every night I’m out, a lot.”

“I guess that’s why Steph  _won’t_ tell her mom. Being a single mom of a rambunctious college student and a registered nurse is hard enough. If Steph tells her about Batgirl, the worry alone would almost kill her.”

“Steph can take care of herself.”

“I know.” The two heroes stand in silence as they watch the sun rise over the buildings. Supergirl reaches over and carefully interlinks her fingers with Shadow’s. “I have to leave tomorrow. I promised Superman I’d be back by then.”

“Can’t you stay another day?”

“I can’t overstay my welcome at Steph’s house. Especially not after tonight.” Shadow understands; he knows about what stress can do to a household.

“What was your nightmare about?” asks Shadow.

“My family. The one on Krypton. They sent me away for protection. It’s always the moments before my ship closes and I see my mother and father for the last time. Every so often, I replay it in my head. It can be at the most random moments too. You know, when I first heard about Scarecrow’s toxin, the thought of getting exposed to it came to mind. I figured I dream about losing Superman or Steph, I...I never thought I’d dream about that night. But I think I know why I did. It’s the one moment I felt truly powerless.” Supergirl pulls away from Shadow and paces.

“Yeah, I know the situation with Steph freaked me out, but I had you and I had my powers, but on Krypton...on Krypton I was just a typical teenage girl. No strength, no speed, and no team to back me up. Sometimes I wish I had died with them. Not like in a suicidal way, more like in a...in a...well, just because if I did, I wouldn’t be dreaming about them.” Supergirl lets out a deep breath and sits on a stone bench next to a garden on the roof. “So, what about you, what did your nightmare have in it?”

“The murders.”

“Of your sister and dad, right?” Shadow nods and sits next to Supergirl. “Did you feel the same way I did? Powerless?”

“I was only ten. People say I couldn’t have done anything and that I was lucky to survive, but I still felt I could have done something. But I watched from the curb as it happened. I wasn’t scared of it, it hurt me. My idol had been taken away from me in a flash. Not powerless, but helpless.” Shadow looks quite saddened just by talking about it, let alone reliving it.     

Supergirl takes a hold of Shadow’s hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “It’s funny in a sad way how loss seems to be the common thread that ties most heroes together. I guess it’s our biggest motivation...that or being related to Superman.” She looks up at him and smiles.

Shadow doesn’t return it, he doesn’t think of it like that at all. In fact he almost rips into her just for being so insensitive about it but he holds back. Supergirl could see his reaction and that what she said upset him. He pulls his hand away and looks away from her.

“Did I say something wrong?” she asks.

“Do you think at all? You make it sound like it’s a therapy group. Not everyone is motivated to help others if they lose someone, look at all the super criminals. Everyone is different and we all do it for different reasons. Dismissing something so serious for a joke is disrespectful.” He took it really personally; she made it sound as if his father and Jessica were part of a plan for another hero to be born. He would have rather of died with them than live with the scarred memory.

“I didn’t mean to offend you. Humor’s sort of how I deal with stuff. It’s kind of a defense mechanism if you think about it. C’mon James, look at me.”

“Wrong moment.” Shadow turns to leave. The defenses were back up. He thought she was better than that.

“Wait.” Shadow doesn’t listen and keeps going. “What is wrong with you?!” He ignores her and continues away from her but she super speeds up to him so fast that she knocks him onto his back. “One minute you’re all nice and great and the next you’re this moody asshole! It’s enough to give a girl emotional whiplash. Look, humor is how I deal with stuff. Don’t dismiss it because that’s not how you deal with things. I know that loss is serious. I witnessed my family get torn from me, I’ve lost several friends through missions, and I’ve been on Apokolips, so don’t tell me I don’t take things seriously!”

_You’re calling me moody,_ thinks Shadow, unfazed. _Shouldn’t throw stones in glass houses._

Supergirl rubs her temples before continuing. “James I really like you. I haven’t felt this way about someone since Krypton. But if you can’t deal with how  _I_ deal with things...then I will walk away. I may seem like this emotional girl, but I’m more than that.”

“I can understand the way you deal with things. You did it at the wrong time and the wrong way. Show it then, show me the orderly, calm, gentle, responsible Kara.”

Supergirl sighs before continuing. “I’m trying...Look, I’m sorry that I upset you, I didn’t mean to.” Supergirl takes a breath again before speaking. “Will you forgive me?”

Shadow looks around before taking off his masks. “Yes, but just think about where you are, who you are with, and the moment before opening your cute mouth.”

“I know that. People react to stuff in...I’m sorry, did you say cute?” A big smile creeps across Supergirl’s mouth.

“Yeah.” Shadow leans in and gives her a quick peck on the cheek before putting his masks on and jumping off the building into the Gotham streets. He slips a piece of paper with his mobile number on it into the edge of her skirt without her knowledge.

Supergirl smiles and rubs the spot where he kissed. “Wai-hold on!” she says as the shock of his romantic gesture wears off. Supergirl crosses her arms and he disappears into an alleyway. When she places her hands on her hips and feels the paper, she pulls it from the top edge of her skirt and sees the number. Supergirl smiles, and then takes off for Stephanie’s house. 

**X**

Shadow reaches his bedroom balcony and climbs over the railing. He enters his room and takes off his masks before collapsing on his bed. He gets back up to inspect damage to him. Mentally and physically he is drained, beat up, and exhausted. He changes and climbs into bed, falling straight asleep. He doesn’t need to go anywhere tomorrow, for once he can relax. Scarlett notes the time he gets in but doesn’t plan on lecturing him. She can see the events of the last couple of weeks have really taken a toll on his body and mind.

**X**  

Kara enters Stephanie’s bedroom window to see her best friend sleeping. She carefully sits on the bed and starts to rub the end of Stephanie’s nose. “Stephanie...Stephanie…” Kara leans back as Stephanie’s fist makes a beeline for her face.

“Leggo my gummy bears!” Kara laughs at her ruffled friend. Stephanie blinks a few times, rubs her face then widens her eyes. “Kara?”

“Hey.”

“Kara!” Stephanie throws her arms around her friend, who thankfully catches her. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“I’m not that easy to get rid of.” Kara stands up and pulls Stephanie with her. They hug for a moment longer before Kara pulls away. “How’s your mom?”

Stephanie makes a face and rubs the side of her arm. “Mad, but mostly worried. When I came home without you she practically freaked. I told her you were with a guy you liked and would be home soon.”

Kara looks past Stephanie’s shoulder and goes wide-eyed. “Steph, it’s almost four am. She’s going to think I slept over at this guy’s house.”

“Well, technically you did.” Kara punches Stephanie in the shoulder. “Ow.”

“You deserve it.” Stephanie plops on the bed as Kara changes into her pajamas. When she is fully changed, she sits on the bed next to Stephanie. “To think your mother is going to think  _I_ spent the night at some guy’s house.”

A knock on the door makes the two girls jump. Ms. Brown opens the door and crosses her arms when she sees Kara. “Hello, Kara, and where have you been all night?”

Kara groans and looks at Stephanie, but the smiling blonde offers her no support. “Talking.”

“Talking...you’ve been talking with some boy ‘til four in the morning?”

“It-it was a long talk.”

Ms. Brown raises her eyebrow. “Mhm. When it’s not so early, you and I are going to have a talk, Kara Kent.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And don’t think you’ll get off so easily.” Stephanie’s smile disappears as soon as her mother turns on her. “We have yet to fully discuss your punishment for not telling me where you were.” Stephanie simply nods as her mother leaves the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

“I don’t care how frightening Scarecrow is. Your mother is still a lot more scary.”

“Yep.”        

**X**

When Kara comes downstairs for breakfast, she is unfortunately greeted with the sight of Ms. Brown drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. Kara knows she’s been spotted so it’s no use for her to try to sneak back upstairs. _Better get this over with._

“Good morning, Ms. Brown.”

“Good morning, Kara,” replies Ms. Brown without looking up from the newspaper.

Kara pours a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and sits next to Ms. Brown. She eats in silence, waiting for the matriarch of the house to speak. But not one for being patient, Kara speaks first. “Are we going to talk or…” Ms. Brown smiles and put her newspaper down.

“Kara, I’m going to ask you a few questions, can you be honest with me?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Who were you with last night?”

“James Rola. A friend of Steph’s.”

“And you two just talked?”

“Pretty much. We walked around the city too.”

“Kara, that’s dangerous. Gotham is not like Metropolis. You can’t just walk around the city.”

“I know and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for worrying you and not calling and such. James and I just got caught up in being together. Sorry.”

Ms. Brown’s face softens slightly. She stands up from the table and grabs Kara’s empty bowl. “Kara, you are my daughter’s best-friend and I like how happy she is when you’re here. But,” she turns to look at Kara, “if you break the rules of this house, you will not be allowed to spend the night here anymore. Do you understand?”

_Ouch. That’s harsh._ “Got it.”

Ms. Brown smiles. “Good.” When she turns back to finish the dishes, Kara hears Stephanie slowly make her way down the stairs. “Don’t think I don’t hear you Stephanie Lyla Brown.” Kara tries not to laugh as Stephanie groans then loudly stomps down the rest of the stairwell.

“Mornin’, mom.”

“Morning, sweetheart.” Ms. Brown watches her daughter grab a box of Eggo Waffles out of the freezer and stick two in the toaster. Kara hides her smile behind her hand as she watches the silent interaction between mother and daughter. “So,” Stephanie jumps when her mother speaks, “I have to get ready for work. But before I leave, you  _and_ I will talk, all right, Stephanie?”

Stephanie nods vehemently. Ms. Brown kisses her daughter on the head and goes upstairs. “I am  _so_ not looking forward to that conversation,” Steph groans when her mother is out of earshot.

“It might not be that bad. Mine wasn’t.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re Miss Perfect. Even when you do something wrong, it’s not that bad.”

“No one’s perfect, Steph. Not even me. Besides, she’s your mom. Whatever she says or does, it’s out of love.”

Stephanie frowns and crosses her arms. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with my best-friend?” Kara rolls her eyes and points behind Stephanie because her waffles are done.

“I’m just saying.” She gets up and leans against the counter next to Stephanie. “I dreamed last night of my parents. Maybe it’s an after-effect of Scarecrow’s drug, I don’t know. But I dreamed I was with my mom and we were talking about getting married and stuff like that. It was a lot like the last full conversation I had with her. Looking back, I know she was just doing what she thought was best for me in her own unique way. I would do anything to have one last heart-to-heart with her.”

“Do you ever wish you never left Krypton?” Kara glances at Stephanie who is standing with her arms crossed and looking straight at Kara.

“Sometimes. It’s usually a passing thought and rare in occurrence, but it happens.”

“How do you get past it?”

Kara moves past Stephanie and grabs the syrup off the top of the fridge. “I think about all the amazing people I have here.” Stephanie smiles and takes the syrup from her. She grabs a fork from the drawer and sits at the kitchen table, Kara joins her.

“Kara, are you sure you want to get involved with James?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“You two are really different, that’s all.”

“True. He’s  _really_ uptight and kinda moody, but that’s just what I’ve seen of The Shadow. I’m sure James is more pleasant, right?”

“Yeah. James is a lot more fun to hang with. I mean, I mostly know James through class but he is nice.”

“Good, now it’s my turn to get to know him.” Kara reaches out and takes a piece of syrup covered waffle.

“Hey! You already had breakfast.”

“I’m a growing girl.”

“You’re solar-powered. You don’t need food.” Kara sticks her tongue out and gets up. “Where are you going?”

“I’ve got to pack.”

Stephanie slumps down in her chair. “Oh, yeah. Well, when I’m done breakfast I’ll come up and help you.”

“Okay.” Before Kara runs upstairs, she reaches across the table and grabs another piece of waffle.

“Thief, thief!” yells Stephanie as Kara runs up the stairs with a laugh.

**X**

It’s past lunchtime when Kara calls a cab for the airport. As the man shoves Kara’s bags in the taxi’s trunk, she and Stephanie talk. “I still don’t get why your cousin is making you leave in a plane.”

“I promised him I’d fly civilian back to Metropolis.”

“Why?”

“Something to do. And it gives me time to concoct a story about this week.”

“True.” As Kara and Stephanie watch the man finish packing the trunk, Kara sends James a text.

James wakes up to the sound of his phone going off. His body aches as he rolls over and checked it.

            Kara: Whens date night? :p

James smiles briefly but doesn’t respond. Kara stares at her phone waiting for a response, but when it doesn’t come she slides the phone into her back pocket. _I guess he’s still sleeping._

“We’re all set, miss. I’m ready to go when you are.”

“Thank you,” replies Kara.

“Oh, oh.” Kara watches Stephanie run to the house. “Wait right there, I have something for you.” Less than a minute later, she runs back out with a file in her hand. “I figured since you’re gonna get involved with James, you better read up on him.” Kara runs her fingers over the dark brown folder. “He already knows so much about you. I figured it was only fair you learned about him. There isn’t a lot but it’s something to help you understand the way he is.”

“Thanks, Steph.” Stephanie and Kara hug one last time before Kara opens the door of the taxi. “See you around BFF.”

“Bye.”

As the taxi pulls away, Kara watches Stephanie wave goodbye from her spot on the sidewalk until the cab turns a corner. She gets comfortable in her seat and runs her fingers over the folder’s title that reads: ‘Rola, James (The Shadow)’. When she opens it, there’s a sticky note on the inside: ‘I thought this could help you understand the guy. Good Luck :)’. Kara smiles and leafs through the information.  _Alright James, let’s see what Batman has to say about you._


	5. Chapter 5

Kara lands in Metropolis to find Clark and Lois waiting for her at the airport. After the welcoming hugs and greetings, they head home.

“So Kara, what did you get up to?” asks Lois.

“Oh, lot of things.”

“Hope you kept out of trouble,” comments Clark. Kara knows it’s useless to lie to Clark so she’s as honest as she can be.

“There was a little trouble. Nothing Batgirl, Shadow, and I couldn’t handle.” Kara sees the muscles of Clark’s jaw flex. “I’m sure you’ll read about it in the newspaper.”

“So it was strictly business,” says Lois while rubbing her hand across Clark’s shoulders.

“Well...define business.” Clark’s face drops and Lois’ mouth curls into a smirk.

“Kara,” Clark takes a breath before continuing, “What exactly happened these past few days?”

“I’m going to plead the fifth until we get home.”

“ _Kara…”_

“Now Clark, let’s keep our cool until we get home. Your parents have done an excellent job with her, and her parents before that. You have no reason to get angry. Right Kara?” Kara’s lips tighten as she slumps down in her seat. “Kara…” Lois says more forcefully.

“Right, totally.”

“See Clark,” Clark relaxes slightly and nods, “we’ll sort through this when we get home.”

When Kara does get home, she goes straight to her room to unpack. The first thing she does is pull out the folder Stephanie gave her. She smiles before opening it.

**X**

James stares at his ceiling for a good 30 minutes. He still doesn’t know where he is with Kara except she was a few pages in front of him on the relationship standing. Yeah, she seemed cool to be with and with a bit of maturation she seemed like a good fit. But there is this nagging feeling in his brain; _remember your training, relationships never end well. Once the enemy finds out, they will use her to get to you._ This had stopped him with a couple of girls. Kara does have superpowers but James still isn’t convinced. He checks his computer and sees an alert from the archive folders. User S.Brown had accessed the James Rola folder.

**X**

 Kara reads the basic information quickly but pauses again to read about close friends:

            Ben Williams- Best Friend, known since age 2; do a lot together

            Dominique Perry- Close Friend, known since age 5; gone through school with her

            Emily Rozov- Friend; known to study with and hang with

            Sam Blake- Friend; known to study and game with

            Kate Ingalls- Close Friend, met after Shadow saved her from Howler; Considered possible romantic partner until they mutually agreed to keep it as friends for her own safety.

Kara sees the info on Kate had only been updated a week before Thanksgiving.  _Now I get why he has been acting so dark, he’s hurting._ Everything made sense to her now.She reads on to his reviews by peers. As she was told, top class reviews from everyone. The folder, unlike hers didn’t include a lot of personal information on his family history. Nor did it give in an in-depth analysis of his friends; unlike hers which did have those profiles. There was little on his preferences or behavioral tendencies. However, none of his peers knew him enough to make deep judgments.

Her phone goes off and she quickly pulls it out hoping James responded. Her face drops a little when it’s Stephanie asking if the flight was good. Kara responds but still feels a little glum. Then about a minute later she gets another text. This time from James.

            ‘Thursday next week I’m in Metropolis.We could meet up. But it’s not a date’

Kara rolls her eyes and smiles. She’s about to text him back when there’s a knock on her door. “Hey Kara, Clark wants to see you,” says Lois on the other side of the door.

“I’ll be right there.” Kara smiles again before replying to James’s text.

James puts his phone down and sees Scarlett standing in his doorway. “You look terrible.”

“I feel it too.”

“I worry so much for you, you give me nightmares.”

“I’m sorry, but a friend needed help.”

“Anyway, you won that scholarship prize for that behavioral psychology paper you wrote.” She gives him an envelope. “Kara seems nice”.

James reads the letter, “Yeah,” but doesn’t expand on it.

“Give her a shot. She could be what you're looking for.” James looks at his sister with an eyebrow raised and she gives him a smile.

He gets up gingerly and gives her a hug. “Let’s go get breakfast.”

James gets home after breakfast with Scarlett and is about to work out when his phone receives a call. It’s Clark Kent. James grimaces as he wonders what Kara told him, or what impression she gave him.

“Hello?”

“My cousin had a few stories to tell about your adventures in Gotham.”

“Look, Clark, nothing happened to us. We’re fine.” 

“I was referring to your bonding,” corrects Clark.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see where that goes, but I’m keeping her at arm’s length.”

“There will be no seeing where it goes. You _will_ keep her at arm’s length, or I’ll have to visit for a personal chat. Got it?”

“Yeah, I understand.”

**X**

Clark hangs up and feels a little bad for threatening James but reminds himself this is for Kara’s own good.

“Do we feel better?” asks Lois.

“Honestly, yes.”

“And why was that necessary? I mean, I get the whole protective thing, my father was great at it, as you remember.” Clark cringes as he recalls General Lane’s attitude surrounding Lois and Clark’s engagement. “However, Kara is almost twenty-one years old. She’s an adult Clark.”

“Only on paper. That doesn’t mean she acts like one. Look, Bruce gave me some info on this Shadow kid. I don’t like the look of him. He reminds me too much of Bruce.”

“How so?” Clark opens his mouth then closes it. “You can’t tell me, can you?” He shakes his head. “Then what can you tell me?”

“I think it’d be best if Kara didn’t get involved with him.”

“Isn’t that  _her_ decision to make?”

“In the end, yes. I just want her to respect my authority and understand that I love her. And that anything I do for her is because of that love.”

“I do get that.” Lois and Clark turn to see Kara standing in the hallway. She approaches the two adults. “But  _you’re_ going to have to accept the fact that sometimes I need to make decisions on my own,  _without_ you.”

Clark sighs and nods. “I know. Just promise me you’ll take my warning into consideration.”

Kara lifts her right hand and raises three fingers. “Scouts honor.” Clark shakes his head and pulls his cousin in for a bear hug. “Clark, let go of me.”

“Never.”

“Clark…” He finally let’s go after Kara jabs him in the side. Lois laughs at the spectacle in front of her then heads into the kitchen.

“How about I make you two something to eat?”

Kara looks at Clark with worry in her eyes. “Please don’t let her cook.”

“I heard that,” Lois yells from the kitchen.

Clark guides Kara to the living room. They sit on opposite sides of the couch while Lois bangs around the kitchen. “Hey Clark.” He turns his attention to his little cousin. “I’ve read up on James. He’s a nice guy. He can be a little cold as Shadow, but he seems fine.”

“From what you’ve read. But there’s a difference in knowing about someone and having a relationship with them.”

“I know. And the more we talk and hang out the more I’ll get to know him.”

Clark lets out a breath and nods. “Just be careful, okay?”

Kara makes an ‘x’ over her heart. “Promise.” Suddenly, she starts sniffing the air. “Do you smell something burning?”

“Okay guys,” Clark and Kara watch Lois speed out of the kitchen, “who wants take-out?”

**X**

James feels a little worried but knows if Kara really wanted it, Clark would step aside. He is unsure if he wants a relationship with her or not. He sees another message:

            Batman - Batcave now.

Shadow meets Batman and Robin in the Batcave. Robin is wearing a smirk and Batman has his usual stone pan face. “You get all the escapees?” Batman asks.

“All but Two-Face. Scarecrow took a bit longer than usual. And I was distracted.”

“Kara tends to do that to people,” comments Robin, trying to hide his smirk now that Batman is glaring at him.

“I’ll get Two-Face,” Batman says to Shadow, “you need to rest.”  He leaves Robin and Shadow. Robin now has a wide grin.

“What?”

“Kara and James, sittin’ in a tree...” sings Robin.

Shadow’s earpiece crackles. “Sorry, Shadow.” Oracle sounds sincere but that doesn't ease Shadow’s anger, or tune out Robin.

Robin continues. “Oh, the drama I can see happening between you two.”

“Have you seen Stephanie?” Robin goes quiet. “Some loving boyfriend.” Shadow sees how his comments stings Robin, but continues anyway. “I’m not sure about her, Tim.”

“Yeah, no one is. She’s crazy.”

“She seems fun and somewhat compatible, but she seems to lack some upstairs thinking.”

“Hey it’s too early to, you know, move on. Kate is still around in your head.”

“Don’t talk about her,” growls out Shadow.

“Okay man, settle.” Robin sits down in the big leather chair that sits in front of the Batcomputer. “You and Kara could work.”

“What?” Shadow gives Robin querying look.

“I’m serious.”

Shadow looks away. A small smile appears on his face. “Maybe, we’ll see what happens.”

 

fin


End file.
